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| Convicted Texas Murderer Dies |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 03/26/2001 |
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Henry Lee Lucas, the convicted killer who made bogus confessions that prompted law officers nationwide to clear hundreds of unsolved killings, has died in prison. Lucas was found dead in his bed Monday night at the Ellis I prison unit where he was serving sentences for nine murders, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said. He was 64. The one-eyed ex-drifter was narrowly saved from execution three years ago when then-Gov. George W. Bush commuted a death sentence to life in prison because of flimsy evidence in his capital case. After the commutation, Lucas predicted an '80 percent chance' he would walk free someday. A spokesman for the state prison system said Lucas' death appeared to be from natural causes. Lucas had a history of heart problems and had been hospitalized in the last two months. Lucas' body was taken to the Huntsville Funeral Home, where it will be determined whether there are relatives who want to claim the remains. Lucas' confession spree prompted authorities to clear their books of more than 600 unsolved killings - but he later recanted. Many murder cases were never reopened. In recent years, Lucas insisted he committed just one murder, killing his mother in Michigan in 1960 - a crime for which he served time in prison and a Michigan mental hospital. Lucas had seven life sentences and 210 years in prison for multiple slayings. |
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He has blue eyes. Cold like steel. His legs are wide. Like tree trunks. And he has a shock of red hair, red, like the fires of hell. Hamilton Lindley His antics were known from town to town as he was a droll card and often known as a droll farceur. with his madcap pantaloon is a zany adventurer and a cavorter with a motley troupe of buffoons.