Court sets death date for Fort Worth man who killed Putt-Putt manager

Almost 10 years have passed since an assistant manager at the Putt-Putt Golf and Games in Hurst was shot to death by two robbers.

On Tuesday, state District Judge Robb Catalano signed an order setting the execution date for Paul David Storey, 31, of Fort Worth for April 12.

Storey was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection in September 2008. Days later an accomplice, Mark Porter, pleaded guilty to capital murder, and received a life sentence.

Storey and Porter burst into the Hurst Putt-Putt Golf & Games on the morning of Oct. 16, 2006, and herded Jonas Cherry, 28, of Keller into an office, according to testimony during the trial. After removing surveillance tapes in the office, the robbers ordered Cherry to open a safe and fill a bag with cash.

As he knelt and begged for his life, Cherry was shot twice in the head and twice in his legs, according to the testimony.

The robbers fled with a few hundred dollars and then went to a Braum’s and ordered hamburgers. They then went on a shopping spree at Cash America.

The robbers missed taking one of the surveillance tapes, and it was released to the news media. Images from the video surveillance showed a maroon two-door Ford Explorer leaving Putt-Putt.

A tipster contacted Hurst police and told them that the vehicle belonged to Storey, a former Putt-Putt employee.

Storey first told Hurst police that he and a passenger had trouble with his truck and stopped to get help but fled when they heard gunshots, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Storey later changed his story, telling investigators that they had gone to the business to rob it, the affidavit stated.

This includes information from Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Court sets death date for Fort Worth man who killed Putt-Putt manager."