In a stark conclusion to a decades-long legal saga, a double murderer was executed by lethal injection in Texas, with the father of one victim delivering a chilling three-word verdict moments after the sentence was carried out.
A Long-Awaited Execution
Charles Victor Thompson, aged 55, became the first individual in the United States to be put to death this year. His execution took place a full 28 years after he committed the horrific crimes that landed him on death row. Thompson was convicted for the fatal shooting of his former girlfriend, Glenda Dennise Hayslip, 39, and her new partner, Darren Keith Cain, 30, back in April 1998.
Final Moments and a Father's Response
In his final statements, Thompson expressed remorse and begged the families of his victims for forgiveness. He told the assembled witnesses that he was sorry for his actions and urged them to find healing. "There are no winners in this situation," Thompson declared, adding that his execution "creates more victims and traumatises more people 28 years later."
However, Darren Cain's father had a profoundly different perspective. Immediately after Thompson was pronounced dead, following a 22-minute procedure where the inmate gasped and took his final breaths, Mr Cain senior uttered the concise, powerful phrase: "He's in hell."
A History of Violence and Escape
The tragic events unfolded after Thompson's relationship with Ms Hayslip ended due to his increasingly possessive, jealous, and abusive behaviour. When Ms Hayslip began dating Darren Cain, Thompson confronted them at her Houston apartment in the early hours of the morning. After police were called and instructed Thompson to leave, he returned three hours later and shot both victims.
Mr Cain was pronounced dead at the scene, while Ms Hayslip succumbed to her injuries a week later in hospital. The case saw numerous legal twists, including Thompson's original death sentence being overturned before a new jury again ordered lethal injection in November 2005. Remarkably, Thompson subsequently escaped from Harris County Jail by simply walking out the front door, though he was later recaptured.
Official Response and Family Closure
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare stated that "this chapter is closed" and described the outcome as "justice a long time coming." Prosecutors had noted in court filings that the Hayslip and Cain families had waited over a quarter of a century for this resolution.
The execution procedure itself saw a spiritual adviser pray over Thompson for three minutes beforehand. After the lethal injection was administered, the convicted murderer gasped loudly before taking around a dozen breaths that gradually turned into snores, leading to his official time of death.
