Richard Foster was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of Gary Cox
According to court documents Richard Foster would enter a store where he would shoot and kill the owner Gary Cox. Foster would then rob a bank where he held several people hostage for hours before giving himself up to police
Richard Foster would be convicted and sentenced to death
Richard Foster would be executed by lethal injection on May 24 2000
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When Was Richard Foster Executed
Richard Foster was executed on May 24 2000
Richard Foster Case
At approximately 4:00 a.m., April 5, 1984, Tarrant County Sheriff’s Deputy H.L. Rice was on patrol east of Azle on the Jacksboro Highway, also known as State Highway 199. He observed a “white over red” Chevrolet two-door, Texas license plate # GPW-857, parked on the southern service road, east of the Hob Nob Bar and about 15 miles from Springtown. There were two people in the car, the driver and a woman. Rice identified the driver as Richard D. Foster by Foster’s Texas driver’s license. Rice did not obtain identification of the woman at that time, but she was later identified as Vicki Easterwood. Rice spoke with Foster for about three minutes, then continued his patrol.
At 7:15 a.m. on April 5, Gary Cox woke up, showered, and got a cup of coffee. He left his wife and nine-day-old daughter at home and went to work at his combination feed store, convenience store, and gas station. Zack Leatherwood had leased the feed store to Gary Cox on April 1, 1984. The store was located on the same property as Leatherwood’s home and was a mile from Cox’s home and two miles west of Springtown. Mrs. Cox said that her husband had taken $300 in cash with him to open his store that morning.
Kenneth Davis had driven to Gary Cox’s feed store at around 7:30 a.m. When he arrived at the store and got out of his truck, he saw a “real clean” older model General Motors car parked at the feed store. Davis described the car as red with a white half-vinyl top. Just as Davis entered the store, he heard an explosion. Suddenly across the store, a man with a shotgun pointed at Davis said, “Man, you better get the hell out of here.” Davis replied, “‘I’m leaving,” and turned around and ran. When Davis got out of the store, he ran towards Leatherwood’s house. Seeing Leatherwood, Davis yelled to warn him of what happened at the store. When Davis got to the Leatherwood’s fence gate, he turned to look back at the store. He observed the red and white car leaving the store going west on Highway 199. At trial he identified a photograph of the car. In that photo, the car bears Texas license plate # GPW-857.
Leatherwood testified that as he was walking down to the feed store and got close to the rear of the store, he heard a gunshot and saw Gary Cox fall after he had been shot. Leatherwood then ran back to his house to get his shotgun. When he returned to the store, Leatherwood checked Cox’s vital signs and determined that he was dead. Leatherwood then entered the feed store. He saw the cash drawer was open, change scattered on the counter, and a $5 bill laying on the counter. The cash drawer was empty.
At about 7:40 a.m., Linda Morgan arrived at Gary Cox’s store to buy some milk. As she was leaving the parking lot, she passed a General Motors automobile with a “cream colored” vinyl top. Morgan later identified Foster as the driver of that car. On April 28 and 29, 1984, Donald Teague, the chief deputy of the Parker County Sheriff’s Office interviewed Vicki Easterwood, the woman in car with Richard Donald Foster. Easterwood led authorities to a stock tank located in a rural area. A scuba diver searching the tank found a satchel which contained items of clothing, a .12 gauge shotgun shell, and a sawed-off shotgun.
During a hearing in federal court in March 2000, Foster admitted, for the first time, the commission of the instant offense, claiming that it was an accident.
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/newspubs/releases/2000/20000523foster.htm
