John Allen Rubio was put to death by lethal injection in Texas on Friday evening, decades after he was convicted of beheading his three young children. He was pronounced dead at 6.47pm local time at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville.
Before the execution, Rubio was visited by a spiritual adviser who prayed with him. He thanked friends, family and prison staff, saying he was “not the same person I once was”. He also expressed his love for his common-law wife, Angela Camacho, who is serving a life sentence for her involvement in the murders.
Final words before execution
In his last statement, Rubio addressed the family of his wife and reflected on the killings. “I want to say I’m sorry to my wife’s family. I can’t change the past but I can tell you my life is going to be over. But that’s not going to make you happy,” he said.
He added: “I’m going to be with my kids in a little bit. I’m ready to go to heaven to be with my Lord and Saviour.”
The 1997 murders
Rubio was convicted over the murders of three-year-old Julissa Quesada, 14-month-old John Esteban Rubio and two-month-old Mary Jane Rubio. The children were killed in a squalid, windowless apartment in Brownsville, Texas, near the Mexican border.
According to court records and the couple’s admissions, Rubio killed his youngest child first. He then asked Camacho to hold Julissa down while he killed her. The youngest boy was killed after waking and crying.
Case background and aftermath
Camacho pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence, while Rubio was sentenced to death. The killings shocked the community and attracted widespread attention because of the couple’s claims about their beliefs at the time.
Rubio later told police he was the “chosen one” and had been selected “to help the world” and “help give their life to Jesus”, according to reports at the time. He was also known to sniff paint, while defence experts told the court that his childhood had been marked by violence, drug use and an unstable home environment. They argued that his upbringing had damaged his development, describing his parents as “toxic”.
The apartment building where the children were killed was later demolished, with the land turned into a park and community garden. Rubio’s execution brings an end to a case that has remained one of the most disturbing child murder cases in Texas.
