William Speer and Anibal Canales were sentenced to death by the State of Texas for the murder of a fellow inmate
According to court documents William Speer was already serving a life sentence for murder when he and Anibal Canales would murder Gary “Dirty” Dickerson to death in his Telford Unit cell on July 11, 1997.
William Speer and Anibal Canales would be convicted and sentenced to death
William Speer Photos
Anibal Canales Photos
William Speer and Anibal Canales FAQ
Where Is William Speer Now
William Speer is incarcerated at Polunsky Unit
Where Is Anibal Canales Now
Anibal Canales is incarcerated at Polunsky Unit
William Speer and Anibal Canales Case
n July 1997, Speer was serving a life sentence for capital murder. Speer v. State, 890 S.W.2d 87 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1994, pet. ref’d). While serving that sentence in Texas prison, he was charged with murdering another prisoner, Gary Dickerson. The murder was an attempt to ingratiate himself with a gang called the Texas Mafia.
The leader of the gang, Michael Constandine, wanted Dickerson dead because he believed, incorrectly, that Dickerson had caused prison officials to intercept an incoming shipment of cigarettes—a valuable prison commodity. Speer volunteered for the job. He went to Dickerson’s cell with Texas Mafia member Anibal Canales on the pretext of smoking a cigarette with Dickerson. But once there, Speer choked Dickerson to death while Canales restrained his arms and feet. Speer later recapped to other Texas Mafia members that he told Dickerson in his last moments, “don’t fuck with the Texas Mafia, not even in hell.”
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca5/19-70001/19-70001-2020-08-17.html
