Killer of assistant prosecutor executed
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HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A repeat felon convicted of slaying a Houston-area prosecutor during a robbery attempt was executed Wednesday.
"Well, Mom, sometimes it works out like this," Marcus Cotton said from the death chamber gurney as his mother, among the witnesses, watched through a window. "When you are dealing with reality, real is not always what you want it to be."
Cotton, 29, was executed by injection at 6:13 p.m.
Cotton had been out of prison less than seven months after serving time for attempted murder when he was arrested for gunning down Gil Epstein, 27, a Fort Bend County assistant prosecutor. Epstein was shot in 1996 while leaving Houston's Jewish Community Center after playing basketball with friends.
Cotton denied he was the gunman who confronted Epstein in the community center parking lot and demanded his wallet. According to testimony at his trial, Cotton shot Epstein after spotting his district attorney badge in the wallet.
A second gunman testified against Cotton in exchange for a 10-year prison term.
Another man robbed outside the center the same night testified he saw Cotton inside Epstein's car, where the prosecutor was found dead in the back seat, shot twice in the head.
The Supreme Court last week refused to review Cotton's case, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a clemency request.
Cotton was the eighth convicted killer put to death this year in Texas. A ninth was scheduled to be executed Thursday.
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
