{{short description|American convicted murderer (1955–2005)}} {{Multiple issues| {{More footnotes needed|date= May 2017}} {{Notability|Biography|date= May 2017}} }} {{Infobox person | name = Robert Dale Rowell | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1955|04|08}} | birth_name = | alias = | birth_place = [[Houston, Texas]], U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|11|15|1955|04|08}} | death_place = [[Huntsville Unit]], [[Huntsville, Texas]], U.S. | death_cause = [[Execution by lethal injection]] | body_discovered = | education = | occupation = | spouse = | partner = | known_for = }}
'''Robert Dale Rowell''' (April 8, 1955 – November 15, 2005) was a [[murder]]er executed by [[lethal injection]] by the [[U.S. state]] of [[Texas]]. He was convicted of the May 10, 1993, murder of Raymond Davey Mata in a [[Houston, Texas]] [[Illegal drug trade|crack house]].
==Crime== Rowell had gone to the house on May 10 with the intent to rob Irving Wright of his drugs and money after Rowell thought he had paid too much for some [[crack cocaine]]. Wright, Mata and his girlfriend, Angie Perez, were in the house. After entering the house, Rowell told Perez and Mata that he would shoot them if they tried to leave. Rowell then proceeded to beat Wright with a [[claw hammer]]. Then the three victims were ordered into the bathtub, where Rowell shot them with a [[.22 Long Rifle|.22 caliber]] [[pistol]], killing Mata. Wright was in a coma for several months and later died. According to the police report, Mata appeared to have shown signs of being beaten after being shot.
Police arrested Rowell who was parked across the street from the scene and found him in possession of a .22 caliber revolver with six spent cartridge casings in the chamber, the gun case and Wright's bank bag.
== Trial and appeals == After being indicted for capital murder on March 1, 1994, he was found guilty and sentenced to death by a jury on April 7. The conviction and sentence were affirmed by the [[Texas Court of Criminal Appeals]] on December 18, 1996. A petition for writ of [[certiorari]] was denied by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] on October 6, 1997, and further appeals for writ of [[habeas corpus]] were denied by his trial court and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1998 and 2002 respectively.
Rowell had appealed his sentence as he claimed the jury were improperly instructed. Under Texas state law, during the sentencing phase of the trial, the jury are asked two special issue questions, one of which relates to the future dangerousness to society of the accused. The jury had asked for clarification of the term "society" and the trial judge had replied, "I am prohibited by law from expanding on the Court's charge." Rowell also said that the judge had not explained properly to the jury just how long the non-parole period of his life sentence would have been. He would not have been released until he was 84 years old.
Prior to the events of May 10, 1993, Rowell already had a criminal record. In 1973 he had served concurrent sentences of ten and twelve years for [[armed robbery|armed robberies]]. While on [[parole]] in 1980 he had robbed a restaurant at gunpoint. One of the patrons was a police officer, who took chase. After the man had identified himself as a police officer, Rowell had fired at the officer. After being arrested in a parking lot nearby, he was sentenced on November 18, 1980, to 30 years. During this prison sentence he fatally stabbed another inmate with a homemade knife at [[Ramsey I]] prison in [[Brazoria County, Texas|Brazoria County]] and was convicted of [[voluntary manslaughter|manslaughter]] and sentenced to eight years in prison.
According to a psychological testing, Rowell was reported to be unusual for a capital defendant as he did not act impulsively. Instead, he scored highly in ability to think rationally and act purposefully. He was also reported to be suffering from [[Clinical depression|depression]], [[psychopath]]ic behavior, [[Deviance (sociology)|deviant behavior]], [[anxiety]], social [[Introversion and extroversion|introversion]], [[drug addiction]] and [[alcoholism]].
==Execution== Rowell declined a [[last meal]], asking for only a cup of [[tea]].
Witnesses to the execution said that he snorted twice as the drugs took effect. He was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m. [[Central Standard Time Zone|CST]] after being executed by lethal injection<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Dale Rowell #995 |url=http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/rowell995.htm |access-date=2022-11-25 |website=www.clarkprosecutor.org}}</ref> at the [[Huntsville Unit]], [[Huntsville, Texas]]. He is buried at [[Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery]].
==See also== * [[Capital punishment in Texas]] * [[Capital punishment in the United States]] * [[List of people executed in Texas, 2000–2009]] * [[List of people executed in the United States in 2005]]
== General references == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110220025006/http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/rowellrobert.htm Offender information] from the [[Texas Department of Criminal Justice]] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110612221253/http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/ncadp/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1466 Report] from the [[National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty]] * [http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=1252 Media Advisory] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527160732/https://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=1252 |date=2011-05-27 }} from [[Texas Attorney General]] * {{cite news|url=http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3459550|title=Killer in Houston shootings to be executed|publisher=Associated Press|date=November 14, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110804215432/http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/3459550.html|archive-date=4 August 2011}} * {{cite news|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/3463657.html|title=Killer in Houston crack house shooting executed|publisher=Associated Press|date=November 15, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522060617/http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/3463657.html|archive-date=2011-05-22}} * {{cite news|url=http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3464264|title=Killer apologizes before execution for '93 shooting|publisher=Houston Chronicle|date=November 15, 2005}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowell, Robert Dale}} [[Category:1955 births]] [[Category:2005 deaths]] [[Category:21st-century executions by Texas]] [[Category:21st-century executions of American people]] [[Category:American people executed for murder]] [[Category:American people convicted of manslaughter]] [[Category:People convicted of murder by Texas]] [[Category:People executed by Texas by lethal injection]] [[Category:Criminals from Houston]]