Texas is preparing for an execution Wednesday
HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas man who admitted that he kidnapped, sexually assaulted and fatally shot the 18-year-old girlfriend of his drug dealer was set to be executed on Wednesday.
The remains of Bridget Townsend weren't found until October 2002, two years after she vanished, when Ramiro Gonzales, having received two life sentences for kidnapping and raping another woman, led authorities to the spot in Southwest Texas where he left her body.
His execution by lethal injection was planned for Wednesday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
Gonzales, 41, was condemned for fatally shooting Townsend after stealing drugs and money and kidnapping her in January 2001 from a home in Bandera County, located northwest of San Antonio. He took her to his family’s ranch in neighboring Medina County, where he sexually assaulted her and killed her.