Luis Ramirez was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of Nemecio Nandin
According to court documents Luis Ramirez was upset that Nemecio Nandin was dating his ex wife. Ramirez would pay Edward Bell to murder the firefighter. Nemecio Nandin would be lured to a home, handcuffed and led to a chicken coop where he would be fatally shot
Luis Ramirez would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Luis Ramirez would be executed by lethal injection on October 20 2005
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When Was Luis Ramirez Executed
Luis Ramirez was executed on October 20 2005
Luis Ramirez Case
Protesting his innocence until the end, Luis Ramirez was put to death Thursday night for the 1998 murder of San Angelo firefighter Nemecio Nandin.
Ramirez, 42, remained calm as he made a final statement and finished by telling an attending physician he was ready for the lethal injection to be administered. ”I did not kill your loved one,” Ramirez told Nandin’s family – three sisters and two brothers – as one of the sisters shook her head. ”I hope that one day you find out who did. … You lost someone you loved very much – the same as my family and loved ones are going to lose in a few minutes. ”I am sure he died unjustly,” Ramirez continued, ”just as I am.” After telling his family he loved them and giving the OK for the lethal dose, Ramirez lay still, smiling and telling his chosen witnesses: ”It’s OK. It’s all right. I’m not afraid.”
Among Ramirez’s three witnesses was Michael Pfeifer, bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of San Angelo, listed as a friend. The lethal dose was administered at 6:10 p.m. Eight minutes later, Ramirez was pronounced dead.
Ramirez was convicted in 1999 of orchestrating Nandin’s murder because the firefighter was dating Ramirez’s ex-wife. Prosecutors during the two-week trial built their case that Ramirez had threatened some of his ex-wife’s previous boyfriends and that he had been asking about her relationship with Nandin, 19, the weekend before the murder. Nandin was found a week after his death, buried in a shallow grave in rural Tom Green County, near Tennyson.
Prosecutors alleged Ramirez and Edward Bell lured Nandin to a house there by asking the part-time repairman to fix a washer. The men then handcuffed him, led him to a hole they already had dug and shot him twice with a shotgun. Evidence was found linking Bell, who received a life sentence, to both the killing and Ramirez, and an informant testified that Ramirez paid Bell to kill Nandin.
Nevertheless, Ramirez had claimed innocence, arguing in turn that his court-appointed attorneys were incompetent, that he was dozens of miles away at the time of the shooting and that he was convicted based on testimony no longer allowed in court. ”I didn’t do this,” he told The Associated Press in a death-row interview. ”I have no idea who did.” Ramirez had previously declined a request from the Standard-Times for an interview from death row. Appeals courts have rejected his arguments – the final denials coming from federal courts Thursday morning – and prosecutors have said that although they believe Ramirez pulled the trigger, his location at the time is irrelevant because he orchestrated the killing.
On Thursday, a handful of protesters stood at the end of the block on which the historic Huntsville ”Walls” unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is located – yellow police tape and a sheriff’s deputy barring them from coming closer. As with all executions performed in Texas, Ramirez was killed in the historic, imposing red-brick building, constructed in 1848. His execution was the first of a San Angelo resident conducted by the state in more than 30 years. In 2003, Louis Jones was executed by the federal government for the murder of Tracie McBride, an airman at Goodfellow Air Force Base.
Tom Green County District Attorney Steve Lupton and first assistant Bryan Clayton each said they have no doubt Ramirez deserved his end. ”What amazes me is that someone who’s about to meet his maker lies until the very end,” Clayton said. ”It underscores what a dangerous person he was.”
Ramirez reportedly was upbeat during his last day, requesting nothing for a last meal. He spent much of his final days talking to visitors. About 30 minutes after the execution, Nandin’s brother, Able Nandin, delivered a statement on behalf of the family, telling reporters they attended ”to make sure justice was done.” ”To my brother, Nemecio,” Able Nandin continued, ”justice was done. We love you.”
http://www.sanangelostandardtimes.com/sast/news_local/article/0,1897,SAST_4956_4175898,00.html
