Texas is set to put Richard Tabler to death tonight, February 13, 2025, in what would be the state’s second execution in a week. Tabler was convicted and sentenced to death for killing Mohamed-Amine Rahmouni and Haitham Zayed after a dispute in Bell County in 2004. He also admitted to killing Amanda Benefield and Tiffany Dotson in the days after the murders because he suspected they would turn him in to the police.
A comprehensive article about his case from USA TODAY observes that, “From a young man with no direction to a man of faith who says he’s ready to die, Tabler’s path to the execution chamber has been filled with sorrow, loneliness and profound regret.”
From Tabler’s clemency application, in which he raised two main reasons why his death sentence should be commuted to a lesser penalty, we learned that his ongoing faith journey intensified through his participation in the Faith-Based Program on death row and led to a profound personal transformation. Tabler is deeply remorseful for his actions and the pain he has caused. According to one of his teachers in the Faith-Based Program, he has “worked relentlessly to confront his past, make amends, and seek redemption.”
A talented artist and writer, Tabler has maintained close ties to his family despite his onerous conditions on death row.
Tabler’s life on Texas Death Row has been very different from what other inmates experience. Instead of being housed with most Death Row inmates, Tabler spent about 10 of the last 20 years being housed in what’s known as Death Watch, according to his Denver-based attorney, David Lane.
On Death Watch, all the inmates are going to be executed within 60 days, except Tabler, who became “brothers” with many of more than 100 men just before they were executed over the years. It nearly broke him, Tabler said, calling it his “hell on Earth.”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/02/12/richard-tabler-texas-execution/78264400007/
In her coverage, Michelle Pitcher of the Texas Observer details the legal twists and turns of the case, which hinged on Tabler’s early decision to waive his right to a full state appeals process after he was sentenced to death in 2007.
Texas death penalty cases are automatically appealed up to the Court of Criminal Appeals for review, but Tabler told a judge that if that direct appeal was denied, he’d like to be executed as soon as possible. He changed his mind months later, thinking he still had time to file a standard appeal, but by then it was too late.
https://www.texasobserver.org/death-penalty-richard-tabler-2025/
In 2024, the ACLU asked the Supreme Court of the United States to review Tabler’s case and to hold that when a defendant’s lawyers abandon him, his waiver of further appeals should not bar his access to federal habeas corpus review of the constitutionality of his conviction. The ACLU argued that Tabler’s lawyers refused to represent him at a hearing to determine his capacity to decide whether to give up his state post-conviction appeals, leaving him effectively unrepresented at that hearing. The Justices refused to intervene.
Earlier this week, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted against recommending clemency for Tabler and no litigation remains pending.
Tabler shared a last thought with USA TODAY ahead of today’s execution:
“I love my life and my family and friends,” he said. “But they now understand that I’m going to a far better place than where I am.”
Last week, on February 5, 2025, Texas executed Steven Nelson. Two other individuals have been put to death nationwide to date in 2025, and tonight, Florida is scheduled to carry out the execution of James Ford. Five individuals are scheduled for execution in five different states in March, including David Wood in Texas on March 13, 2025.