Anthony Westley was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of Chester Hall
According to court documents Anthony Westley and two accomplices would rob a bait and tackle shop when a gunfight broke out with the owner Chester Hall. By the time it was over Chester Hall would be fatally shot, one of the robbers were dead and Anthony was shot in the back
Anthony Westley would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Anthony Westley would be executed by lethal injection on May 13 1997
Anthony Westley Photos
Anthony Westley Case
A man was executed by injection for fatally shooting a Houston area bait shop owner during a botched robbery 13 years ago.
Anthony Ray Westley, who was put to death for killing Frank Hall, a volunteer fireman and ambulance driver, maintained his innocence to the end.
Asked for his last statement, he turned to members of his victim’s family, who watched through a window a few feet away.
“I didn’t shoot your husband,” he said in a shaky voice. “I really didn’t. I want you to believe I didn’t.”
Westley, 36, was one of three men who had been drinking, smoking marijuana and snorting cocaine on April 13, 1984, before they walked into a bait shop near Lake Houston and announced a holdup. The robbery was interrupted when Hall walked in and pulled his own gun. The clerk said gunfire erupted as Westley and Hall scuffled. Hall, 38, was shot in the back and bled to death
One of Westley’s companions also was killed. The other, John Henry, was wounded. Westley surrendered the next day and blamed Henry for the killing. Henry, who received a 35-year prison sentence for robbery and now is on parole, identified Westley as a partner in the shooting.