Troy Albert Kunkle

Troy Albert Kunkle, a 38-year-old white male, was executed by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas on January 25, 2005. Kunkle was found guilty of the 1984 murder of Steven Wayne Horton, a 31-year-old white male. Kunkle, who was 18-years old when he committed the capital crime, was sentenced to death on February 26, 1985.

On the night of August 11, 1984, Kunkle, a six foot one inch native of Nuremberg, Germany, and his 18-year-old girlfriend Lora Lee Zaiontz, accompanied by three white males, Jerry Russell Stanley, 17, Aaron Allen Adkins, 19, and Tom Sauls, left San Antonio, Texas for a two hour drive to Corpus Christi. All five were then under the influence of alcohol and LSD.

While en route to the coast, Stanley removed a .22-caliber pistol from the glove compartment of the vehicle, fired it into the air, and asked Adkins if he wanted to make some money. Sauls told Stanley that "guns and acid don't mix," and Stanley returned the gun to the glove compartment. During the course of the 140-mile trip, Stanley took out the gun several more times. Stanley and Adkins discussed committing a robbery and slowed the vehicle several times to assess potential victims.

When the group arrived in Corpus Christi they drove to the beach where Kunkle and Zaiontz kept to themselves. Stanley, Adkins, and Sauls went for a walk, and Stanley and Adkins again discussed robbing someone. The group left the beach and went to a convenience store to buy beer. In the store Stanley and Adkins robbed a man in a phone booth at gunpoint while Kunkle, Zaiontz, and Sauls remained in the car and did not participate in the robbery or share in its proceeds. Stanley and Adkins got only $7, so they left the store to search for another victim. They spotted Steven Horton walking along the road, pulled up next to him, and Zaiontz asked if he needed a ride. Though he resisted at first, Horton was eventually persuaded to get into the car. He sat in the front seat, next to Zaiontz.

Once inside the car Stanley put the .22-caliber pistol to the back of Horton's head and told him to give them his wallet. Horton turned to look at Stanley but Zaiontz scratched his face and told him to look forward. Kunkle told Stanley to kill him but Stanley refused. Kunkle then took the gun from Stanley, put it to Horton's head, and said, "We're going to take you back here and blow your brains out." Adkins drove the car behind a skating rink and Kunkle shot Horton in the back of the head. They pushed his body out of the car, and Zaiontz took his wallet. After the shooting Kunkle quoted the following line from Metallica’s No Remorse: "another day, another death, another sorrow, another breath," and told the group that the murder was "beautiful."

On October 17, 1984, a Nueces County grand jury indicted Kunkle, who had no prior criminal record, of capital murder. On February 22, 1985, Kunkle was convicted and seven days later he was sentenced to death. On June 18, 1986, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence. Zaiontz was convicted of capital murder and given a life sentence. Stanley and Adkins were convicted of murder and given a 30-year sentence. Sauls was never arrested or charged with any offense.

References

* Michelangelo Delfino and Mary E. Day, "Death Penalty USA 2005 -2006", (2008), 30-31.
* "Kunkle v. Dretke" (2003) 352 F.3d 980.
* "Kunkle v. State" (1986) 771 S.W.2d 435.

See also

* Capital punishment in Texas
* Capital punishment in the United States