With six months still to go in 1997, Texas has already set a record for executions.
Earl Behringer, who killed an Army lieutenant and his fiancee in a $15 robbery at a lovers' lane, on Wednesday became the 21st person to be put to death in Texas this year.The execution of Behringer, 33, topped the previous mark of 20 executions carried out in 1935 when the state used the electric chair to kill death row inmates.
"It's a good day to die," Behringer said before receiving a lethal injection. "I walked in here like a man. I am leaving here a man."
Behringer, with a Bible on his chest, thanked family members and friends, then turned to six members of his victims' families.
"I am sorry for any pain I have caused you," he said. "If my death gives you any peace, so be it."
He then thanked the Dallas Cowboys football team "for giving me a lot of enjoyment these past years."