Willie Pondexter Executed

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - An Oklahoma man convicted of killing an elderly northeast Texas woman during a robbery has been executed tonight in Huntsville.

Willie Pondexter -- in his final statement from the death chamber -- said he didn't murder anyone, but he expressed remorse and apologized for his involvement in the crime.

Pondexter was condemned for the shooting death of 85-year-old Martha Lennox at her home in Clarksville.

Pondexter said, quote: "I am not mad. I'm a little upset and disappointed in the courts. I feel I've been let down."

The high school dropout from Idabel, Okla., said that was all right. "I just played the hand that life dealt me," he said.

Pondexter said he hoped that people who read about him would "look at my life and learn from it."

He looked toward the district attorney who prosecuted him and a distant cousin of his victim and said, "I know I'm wrong asking you to forgive me."

A companion, James Leon Henderson, was convicted for his role in the Lennox slaying and awaits execution.      SOURCE