John Allen Rubio, 46, was executed by lethal injection at Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville for the murders of his three young children, whom he believed were possessed by evil spirits. He was pronounced dead at 6:47pm local time.
Murders in Brownsville
Rubio and his girlfriend, Angela Camacho, were charged in connection with the deaths of three-year-old Julissa Quesada, 14-month-old John E. Rubio and two-month-old Mary Jane Rubio. The killings took place in 2003 in the filthy, windowless flat the couple shared in Brownsville, on Texas' border with Mexico.
All three children were beheaded by Rubio, with Camacho helping to restrain one of the youngsters. Camacho pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence, while Rubio was condemned to death row.
Trials and Appeals
Rubio's initial capital murder conviction was quashed by an appeals court, which determined that statements made by Camacho had been wrongly admitted as evidence during his trial. At his retrial, Rubio again pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, yet was convicted for a second time and sentenced to death.
According to court records, Rubio was not the biological father of the two older children, though he treated them as his own. At various stages, Rubio maintained the children were possessed and that he was the "chosen one" intended to save the world.
Defence and Motive
Defence experts concluded that Rubio suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, a finding disputed by prosecution experts. Rubio, who was known to sniff paint, later told police that he was "the chosen one" and that he had been selected "to help the world" and "help give their life to Jesus," according to reports at the time.
Rubio first attacked his only biological child Mary Jane and decapitated her. He then got Camacho to hold down Julissa while he decapitated her, according to court records as well as the couple's own admissions. He then decapitated John when the baby woke up crying, court records say.
Background and Aftermath
Expert witnesses for the defence testified that his upbringing, marked by domestic violence, "toxic" parents, drug abuse and prostitution, had caused severe developmental harm. The block of flats where the children were murdered was subsequently torn down, with the land transformed into a park and community garden.
His execution was the second to be carried out on the same day, with killer James Dwight Pavatt also put to death earlier for his role in helping his lover murder her estranged husband.
