Texas executes paranoid schizophrenic, 61, who shot his friend and then drowned his baby in a sink in 1987 Christmas Eve killing spree
By Jennifer Smith
Daily Mail
March 15, 2017
A paranoid schizophrenic who shot dead a father and drowned his baby in a sink in 1987 has been executed in Texas.
James Bigby, 61, was put to death by lethal injection for killing Michael Trekell and his infant son Jason in a Christmas Eve killing spree 30 years ago.
He was pronounced dead just after 6pm in Huntsville in Texas on Tuesday, becoming the fourth inmate to die in the state this year.
Texas Department of Corrections officials said he struggled to stop sobbing before he was taken into the death chamber, as he expressed sorrow for his crimes.
He made sure there were no last-minute appeals delaying his punishment.
In his last statement, he offered apologies to the families. 'I´m sorry. I´m sorry. I hope that my death will bring you peace and closure,' he was quoted as saying by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Bigby was found guilty of capital murder in 1991 for killing Trekell, 26, and his baby. They were watching TV at Trekell's home in Arlington on the evening of December 2 3 when he shot him.
He tried to kill baby Jason first by suffocating him with cellophane then drowned him in the sink.
Bigby then went on to shoot dead two other friends, Calvin Crane and Frank Johnson, that night but was never tried for their murders.
He was eventually arrested in a motel on Christmas Eve after a stand-off with police.
Bigby, who was a mechanic at the time, believed the men were conspiring against him on behalf of his former employer, Frito Inc, which he had just filed a lawsuit against, The Texas Star Tribune reports.
The baby's mother, who knew him, said he'd earlier told how he wanted to die in a 'blaze of glory'.
During his 1991 trial, Bigby boldly grabbed a loaded gun from behind the judge's bench during a recess and stormed into his chambers with it.
A jury rejected his insanity defense and sentenced him to death.
The sentence was upheld in 2005 when he was given a new sentencing trial to reflect changes in the law which meant jurors could take mental illness into account when reaching a decision on whether to give inmates the lethal injection or life without parole.
They stuck with Bigby's death sentence despite his earlier claim that he'd only been out of an asylum for 10 days when he committed the murders.
He told The Associated Press in 2001 that he had received shock treatment for his condition.
John Trickell, Bigby's attorney, said he was ready to die on Monday.
'I believe that [Bigby] is resigned to the fact that he's going to be executed, and I think he wants it over with,' he said.
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