Execution Report: Troy Clark

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A jury found Clark guilty of capital murder in March 2000 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence in November 2002.

In their appeals, Clark's attorneys noted that Bush, the prosecution's main witness, changed her story numerous times. During the investigation of Muse's murder, Bush had at one time blamed Mize. She also gave a statement in which she confessed to killing Muse out of jealousy and supported Clark's alibi that he was not home at the time. Appeals attorneys also framed Clark's trial lawyer's performance as "abysmal" for failing to put on a mitigation defense during the sentencing phase of the trial. All of Clark's appeals in state and federal court were denied.

In exchange for her testimony against Clark, Tory Gene Bush pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. She was released on parole in June 2015. According to public records, she was scheduled to be discharged upon the completion of her sentence on 13 September 2018.

Clark's spouse and four friends attended his execution and watched from a viewing room adjacent to the death chamber. Clark chuckled as he addressed his witnesses, telling him several times that he loved them and "it's all good."

Family members of the victims watched from another room.

"I'm not the one that killed Christina, so whatever makes y'all happy," Clark said in his last statement. "I love y'all. I'll see you on the other side." The lethal injection was then started.

Clark remarked that the pentobarbital "burned going in." He said, "I feel it," then he grunted, gasped, and began to snore. He was pronounced dead at 6:36 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 27 September 2018.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, public records, Associated Press, Texas Tribune.