Condemned Nevada killer put to death shortly after midnight

CARSON CITY, Nev. - A man who broke into his ex-girlfriend's house in search of drugs and shot her in the head as she slept was executed at 12:15 a.m. today.

Roderick Tyrone Abeyta, 44, was pronounced dead two minutes after lethal chemicals were injected into veins in his tattooed left arm.

As he was led into the death chamber a half hour earlier, he looked at three women witnesses who were related to victim Donna Martin and said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Abeyta didn't resist as guards strapped him to a gurney with seven car seat belts. At his request, he was given no sedatives in advance - the usual procedure - and was conscious until the fatal drugs hit.

"He wanted to have a clear mind," Prisons Director Bob Bayer said later outside the main gate at Nevada State Prison.

Bayer, the last person to speak with Abeyta before the steel door on the chamber closed, said the inmate told him he was remorseful and hoped his death would "help in the healing process" for Martin's family.

Officials said Abeyta hadn't been depressed or agitated earlier in the day, after he had been transferred to a "last night" cell only a few feet from the death chamber.

He spent his final hours making phone calls, and watched a television news show that included an interview he gave earlier to explain why he didn't want to stop his execution.

Abeyta asked for vanilla ice cream after a final meal of the same food served to other NSP inmates: salad, Salisbury steak, potatoes, steamed tomatoes, Jell-O and iced tea.

The condemned inmate, who had become deeply religious while imprisoned, also met with two prison chaplains. But there were no visits from any family members on Sunday. On Saturday, he had met with his estranged wife, who had married him after he was sent to prison.

Abeyta didn't get a visit from his mother or two brothers, and had said he didn't expect them to try to stop his execution. He had vowed to fight any efforts by state or federal defenders to intervene.

There was no sign of unrest among other NSP inmates. Outside the prison, about two dozen opponents of the death penalty held a candlelight vigil, praying for Abeyta, his victim and for both of their families.

"We're here to protest the commission of a crime as punishment for another crime," said one of the protesters. Another carried a sign that read, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

The last death row inmate to be executed in Nevada was Richard Moran, who died in March 1996 for two killings in a Las Vegas bar in 1984 while on a drug and alcohol binge. Like Abeyta, he also decided against any last-minute appeals.

Abeyta told The Associated Press in a Sept. 25 interview that he realized a court fight could keep him alive, but that would be "immoral to my religious beliefs."

"I'm seeking to be held accountable for my actions. I did a terrible wrong and I recognize that," added Abeyta, who killed Ms. Martin, 38, in 1989 by firing two shots into her head as she slept. He had broken into her Las Vegas home in search of drugs.

The death row inmate said he tried for several years after his conviction to avoid execution by injection, but he no longer wanted to "manipulate the system." He has been in prison in California and Nevada for most of his adult life.

Raised in the Burlingame-San Mateo area near San Francisco, Abeyta said he was abused by his now-dead father and wound up in foster homes and eventually in California Youth Authority camps. At age 14, he began using methamphetamine and at 17 he was caught driving a stolen car.

Instead of another stint in a CYA camp, he went into the Marine Corps for two years. Back home in 1973 and still using "meth," he was arrested for robbery and would up serving 3 1/2 years in California prisons.

He then moved to Las Vegas where, in 1979, he got another prison term for robbery. Released in March 1989, he shot Martin seven months later.

While awaiting trial, Abeyta spent several years in the state Lake's Crossing mental facility in Sparks. Eventually, he was found competent to stand trial and was convicted in 1996.

Abeyta lost an automatic appeal a year ago and last spring wrote a judge to say he wanted to be executed. Clark County District Court Judge Jeff Sobel on Sept. 15 issued a warrant authorizing the execution after reviewing an updated report indicating Abeyta is competent.

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