Martin Vega was executed by the State of Texas for the murder for hire of James Mims
According to court documents Martin Vega and James Mims wife Linda Mims would plan his murder in order to collect the insurance money. James Mims would be beaten and shot multiple times
The murder went unsolved until Martin Vega would confess to police his role in the murder
Linda Mims was not charged as it was Martin Vega word against hers
Martin Vega would be convicted and sentenced to death
Martin Vega would be executed by lethal injection on January 26 1999
Martin Vega Photos
Martin Vega Case
n July 1985, after receiving a report of a homicide, Sheriff Mike Bading discovered the body of James Mims lying alongside a road. Bading and other officers arriving at the same time recovered several items belonging to Mims, including a comb, a screwdriver-type key chain, a pocket knife, and some change. They also found three spent .22 caliber cartridges.
Mims’s skull had been hit with a blunt object, possibly a handgun, and he had been shot eight times; his shirt was saturated with blood, and the rest of his clothes were wet from a source other than blood. One of the bullets had passed through his lung, aorta, and heart, probably causing his death. Two .22 caliber bullets were removed from his body and analyzed.
Vega confessed to the murder in January 1988. He stated that Linda Mims had encouraged him to murder her husband, promising to marry him afterward and to give him $30,000 of the $150,000 life insurance proceeds. Vega did in fact marry her and enjoyed substantial sums of money obtained from insurance proceeds.
In one of his statements, Vega revealed the location of the alleged murder weapon, a .22 caliber handgun. This weapon, along with the cartridges allegedly fired by the handgun but not found at the murder scene, were at the specified location and presented at trial. Vega also explained that the victim was wet because of a failed attempt to drown him. Vega insisted that Linda Mims be arrested immediately upon his confession.
Vega made one statement in his handwriting and signed it in the presence of two officers; subsequently he made other statements containing details of the events relating to the murder. He received Miranda warnings before confessing
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-5th-circuit/1397141.html
