Texas commutes death sentence, Florida executes murderer

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Texas Governor Greg Abbott commuted the death sentence of a convicted murderer less than an hour before he was set to be executed on Thursday, after the death row inmate's family was able to receive a rare clemency recommendation.

Florida executed a man convicted of the 1993 rape and murder of a college student, media reports said, while Alabama plans to execute a convicted murderer later in the evening.

In Texas, Thomas Whitaker, 38, was convicted of masterminding a 2003 plot against his family in which his mother Tricia, 51, and brother Kevin, 19, were killed. His father, Kent, was shot in the chest and survived.

(Thomas Whitaker via Texas Department of Criminal Justice/Reuters)

A devout Christian and retired executive, Kent Whitaker said he had forgiven his son and that his family did not want him to be executed. In a clemency petition, the father said if the death penalty were implemented, it would make his pain worse.

On Tuesday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles in a unanimous decision recommended clemency based largely on his father's request. Abbott, a Republican, commuted the sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole, saying various factors influenced his decision, including the appeals of the father and the board's recommendation.

“I’m thankful for this decision, not for me but for my dad. Whatever punishment I might have received or will receive will be just. I deserve any punishment for my crimes, but my dad did nothing wrong," Thomas Whitaker was quoted as saying by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Florida executed Eric Branch, 47, for the 1993 murder of University of West Florida student Susan Morris, local media reports said. Prisons officials were not immediately available for comment.

The execution was delayed as the U.S. Supreme Court heard a last-minute appeal, which it denied.

Alabama planned to execute Doyle Hamm, 61, at 6 p.m. (0000 GMT) for the 1987 murder of motel clerk Patrick Cunningham. Hamm's lawyers have said the death row inmate was too ill to be executed and the proceedings were delayed as the U.S. Supreme Court pondered their appeal.

Hamm has terminal cancer, adding that years of intravenous drug use and untreated lymphoma had made his veins unstable for a lethal injection, his lawyers said.

A court-appointed doctor examined Hamm on Feb. 15 and found he had usable veins, according to court filings.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Additional reporting by David Beasley in Atlanta and Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Editing by Peter Cooney and Lisa Shumaker)