Judge sets execution date for Fort Worth killer of three

A Tarrant County judge on Monday set an October execution date for a Fort Worth man who killed three men in two days in 2005.

State District Judge David C. Hagerman ruled that Christopher Wilkins, 46, of Fort Worth will be put to death by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Oct. 28.

Wilkins took the witness stand in March 2008 and admitted to a string of crimes that included the killings, then told the jury that he didn’t care whether he lived or died. But now, as he lives on Death Row, Wilkins may be having second thoughts, said his attorney, Hilary Sheard.

“It would not be the only case that I’ve come across where someone has changed their mind,” Sheard said outside the courtroom Monday.

Sheard argued that the court should not schedule Wilkins’ execution so she would have more time to file appeals, and she said his previous appeals attorney had not adequately investigated his case.

Hagerman denied all of Wilkins’ claims, saying the same arguments had been made to appeals judges and had been rejected.

During his 2008 trial, a jury of five women and seven men deliberated for about 90 minutes before deciding that Wilkins should die for his crimes. Several jurors cried as state District Judge Everett Young announced their verdict.

The jury convicted Wilkins of capital murder for fatally shooting Willie Freeman and Mike Silva on Oct. 27, 2005. A day earlier, according to prosecutors and Wilkins, he killed Gilbert Vallejo outside a south Fort Worth bar during a dispute about the pay phone.

In 2005, Wilkins said, he was released from a California federal prison to a halfway house in Beaumont, where his family lived. His stepfather got him a job making $23 an hour, and his grandmother gave him a Cadillac, he testified. But, he said, when Hurricane Rita struck, he was transferred to a halfway house in Houston, where his children and ex-girlfriend lived. He got a day pass and called his ex-girlfriend, wanting to see his three children, he said.

That didn’t work out and, instead of returning to the halfway house, he went to a strip club. Later, Wilkins said, he stole a truck and drove to Fort Worth.

Wilkins then detailed for jurors how he killed Freeman out of revenge because Freeman ripped him off in a dope deal and laughed at him, and how he killed Silva, Freeman’s friend, because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He killed Vallejo, he said, because Vallejo made him mad.

Wilkins acknowledged that he also nearly killed two more people about a week later when he intentionally ran them down on a sidewalk in a stolen car because he believed that one of them had stolen his sunglasses.

After he was captured and charged with capital murder, Wilkins testified, he began plotting his escape from jail.

He said he also lied about committing other killings all over the country, hoping that police would continue taking him out of the jail for interviews. He planned to use a handcuff key that he bought from an inmate for $100 and reproduced to free himself and make a run for it, he said.

His plans were foiled, however, when the handcuff key was discovered.

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published July 6, 2015 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Judge sets execution date for Fort Worth killer of three."