Woman Executed in Texas

Suzanne Basso, 59, Executed in Texas

Facts:

Suzanne Basso and the man she was convicted of murdering, Louis "Buddy" Musso

•  Basso was convicted and sentenced to death row for the 1998 murder of mentally disabled Louis "Buddy" Musso
• Basso is the second woman executed in Texas in the past year and the fourth since 2000
• Basso is only the 5th woman executed in Texas since the state resumed executions in 1982

Suzanne Basso, 59, was executed in Texas early Wednesday evening after spending over 14 years on death row. She is only the second person executed in Texas in 2014. While over 1,400 men have been executed in the United States since Gregg v. Georgia supreme court decision which allowed states to resume capital punishment, she is only the 14th woman to executed.

When asked if she would like to make any final statements, she replied, "No, sir." She smiled at a couple of her friends and mouthed a few words at them. At 6:15 PM local time, a lethal dose of pentobarbital was administered. Shortly after, she could be heard snoring. She was pronounced dead at 6:26 PM.

She was convicted for the 1998 murder of Louis "Buddy" Musso, a mentally disabled man. Musso was found in a ditch outside of Houston, battered and lacerated. Prosecutors say that Basso made herself the beneficiary to Musso's life insurance policy and took over his social security benefits after he moved to Texas from New Jersey under the guise that she would marry him.

A last day appeal was made on her behalf under the premise that she was mentally incompetent but was ultimately denied based on her history of fabricating stories about herself in an attempt to manipulate psychological tests and exams.

Suzanne Basso was one of eight siblings and the youngest of three girls. Her childhood was marred by abuse, both physical and sexual, said one of her siblings. She married James Peek in the early 1970's whom was jailed in 1982 for molesting his daughter.