Texas Set to Execute Robert Pruett for Prison Murder Despite Corruption and Lack of Physical Evidence

Though no phys­i­cal evi­dence links him to the crime, Texas is set to exe­cute Robert Pruett (pic­tured) on October 12 for the 1999 stab­bing death of a state cor­rec­tion­al offi­cer who was at the cen­ter of a prison cor­rup­tion inves­ti­ga­tion. Results of a DNA test of the mur­der weapon in 2015 found DNA that matched nei­ther Pruett nor the vic­tim, Officer Daniel Nagle. 

According to Pruett’s pend­ing clemen­cy peti­tion, Officer Nagle was work­ing to iden­ti­fy cor­rupt cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers who had been help­ing prison gangs laun­der drug mon­ey, and his name was dis­cov­ered on a secret note from an inmate say­ing that a prison gang want­ed him dead. The uniden­ti­fied DNA, Pruett’s lawyers sug­gest, may belong ​“to the per­son [who] killed Nagle” and that Pruett was framed for the murder. 

Earlier on the day he was killed, Officer Nagle had giv­en Pruett a dis­ci­pli­nary write-up for eat­ing a sand­wich in an unau­tho­rized area. A bloody shank and a torn-up copy of the dis­ci­pli­nary report were found next to the officer’s body. The pros­e­cu­tion’s case turned on dubi­ous tes­ti­mo­ny from prison infor­mants and the tes­ti­mo­ny of a foren­sic ana­lyst that linked the tape wrapped around the han­dle of the shank used to kill Nagle to the prison craft shop in which Pruett’s cell­mate worked. The foren­sic tes­ti­mo­ny has since been debunked and, accord­ing to the clemen­cy peti­tion, a state investigator’s notes dis­closed that a key prison wit­ness — Harold Mitchell — had been promised a trans­fer to a prison close to his family’s home in Virginia if he tes­ti­fied against Pruett and threat­ened with being charged with Nagle’s mur­der if he did not. 

This is the sixth time Pruett has faced an exe­cu­tion war­rant. In April 2015, he received a stay of exe­cu­tion to per­mit DNA test­ing and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals grant­ed a stay in August 2016 so the state courts could have more time to review Pruett’s new claims relat­ing to the DNA evi­dence. However, in April 2017, the Texas appeals court ruled that the DNA test results would not have changed the out­come of his tri­al. The U.S Supreme Court declined to review Pruett’s case on October 2, per­mit­ting the exe­cu­tion to proceed. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has presided over 25 exe­cu­tions since tak­ing office in January 2015, has yet to com­mute any death sentence.

The same day Pruett was indict­ed, four cor­rec­tion­al offi­cers were indict­ed on fed­er­al bribery charges for par­tic­i­pat­ing in a drug smuggling ring.