Rot In Hell: Man Executed For Killing Houston Mother With Her Shoelace 27 Years Ago

[Sugar Cookie]

A Texas man who claimed an intellectual disability in a late attempt at a reprieve was executed Wednesday evening for the killing of a woman who was jogging near her Houston home more than 27 years ago.

Arthur Lee Burton, 54, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville and was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m. He was condemned for the July 1997 killing and attempted rape of Nancy Adleman, a 48-year-old mother of three.

Following his execution, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice released his final statement:

"Yes. I want to say thank you to all the people who support me and pray for me. For those of you I know and do not know thank you for your support and prayers. 27,27 and a full circle to all the guys at the Polunsky Unit, I love you guys. Bird, Bird is going home. To all the people I have hurt and caused pain, I wish we didn't have to be here at this moment, but I want you to know that I am sorry for putting y'all through this and my family. I'm not better than anyone, I hope that I find peace and y'all can too. Warden I am good."

In July 1997, Adleman never came back from a run along the bayou near West Road and Beltway 8. Her partially clothed body was found in a hole a day later.

Her family and friends described her as a devout Christian, beloved wife, and mother of three children. Along the bayou, a large white cross was erected as a memorial to Adleman years ago and still stands today.

By August 1997, Burton was arrested and charged with capital murder.

Then-sheriff, Tommy Thomas, said Burton confessed to attacking Adleman and dragging her into the woods where he attempted to sexually assault her before strangling her with her own shoelace. He also told investigators about her dying words, Thomas said.

"She did have a conversation while this attack was taking place, and she told him that she did forgive him and asked if he believed in God," Thomas told reporters in 1997.

"She would do that. She had a very strong faith," Mark Adleman, Nancy's husband, said.

Continue reading

Man executed by lethal injection for killing Houston mother with her shoelace 27 years ago

In July 1997, Nancy Adleman never came back from a run along the bayou near West Road and Beltway 8. Her partially clothed body was found in a hole a day later.

abc13.com