Fort Worth man who fatally stabbed 2 women in 2003 set to be executed on Wednesday
A death row inmate from Fort Worth who fatally stabbed an 89-year-old woman and her 71-year-old daughter is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday.
Billy Jack Crutsinger, 64, was convicted in 2003 of killing Patricia Syren and Pearl Magouirka in April that year. Evidence showed that Crutsinger entered their home under the pretense of doing asphalt work. A relative found their bodies on April 8, 2003.
Authorities later learned that Crutsinger was using Syren’s credit card at Galveston bars, and he was arrested, according to court records. A Fort Worth detective interviewed Crutsinger in Galveston. He confessed to killing the women and told officers where to find other evidence, court records stated.
He has asked the Supreme Court to stop his execution by arguing that his 14th Amendment rights were violated. He alleged that his former attorney failed to adequately represent him and that state and federal courts lack professionalism and are unable to competently represent death row inmates.
In his 2013 appeal, Crutsinger contended that he had poor legal help and that his attorneys should have pursued evidence that he had mental impairments and previous head injuries. His appeals lawyer also argued that a federal judge should have provided money to help fully investigate claims of poor legal help.
Assistant Criminal District Attorney Michele Hartmann, who was the lead prosecutor on the case said Wednesday, “The defendant stabbed two elderly women to death in their own home. They had offered him a chance at honest work. The loss of mother and daughter Pearl Magouirk and Pat Syren is still felt deeply by their family and the Fort Worth community. Our sympathy and thoughts continue to be with them.”
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Crutsinger’s request for a stay last week.
If Crutsinger is executed, he will be the 14th inmate executed this year in the U.S. and the fifth in Texas.
This story was originally published September 4, 2019 at 10:38 AM.
