Arturo Diaz: Texas Executes Man For 1999 Death

A Texas death row inmate who tied his victim with shoelaces, stabbed him 94 times and robbed him of $50 has been executed.

Arturo Diaz, 37, was killed by lethal injection after the Supreme Court refused a last-ditch appeal to stay his execution.

Diaz had been convicted of killing Michael Ryan Nichols in April 1999 near the Mexican border.

Police said at the time that Diaz had stabbed his victim in the chest with a knife found at Mr Nichols' home.

Diaz smiled and blew a kiss to witnesses watching through a window to the death chamber, including his mother and grandmother.

Turning to the father of his victim he said: "I hope this can bring some relief for you and your family."

He spoke in Spanish to his own friends and relatives, telling them: "I am with God."

Diaz had said he was high on drugs and alcohol during the attack on Mr Nichols, and moments before the execution he said he hoped his fate would serve as an example to young people.

"Think about it before you do drugs," he said.

It was the 13th execution this year in Texas, the nation's most active capital punishment state.