Javier Cruz

Background

Javier Cruz was convicted of capital murder in October 1992 for strangling Louis Menard Neal and James Michael Ryan in separate 1991 incidents.

Cruz had grown up in Laredo. Lawyer Bill Berchelmann, who defended Cruz at the trial, said Cruz was a victim because he grew up with an abusive father, which Berchelmann said fueled Cruz’s drug-induced violent behavior.

Robert McClure, the Bexar County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Cruz, recalled describing Cruz a "a creature who walks the earth in human form" during the 1992 trial. McClure said, "What stands out in my mind is that he was a multiple killer and that he did it manually," and described Cruz as a "a creature who walks the earth in human form".

Drug use and motive asserted in court

Cruz was described as having a heroin habit and as being motivated by drug craving. Ovalle told police Cruz stole items to buy heroin.

Cruz supported a $200 a day addiction for 10 years before committing the murders. Defense attorney George Scharmen said, “Heroin had become a lifestyle for Cruz.” and, “He was willing to do anything for it.” Scharmen said Cruz hated men who paid him for sex and that Cruz had guilt and anger, with an inability to control hatred prompting him to prey on homosexual men.

The offence

Cruz was convicted of murdering James Michael Ryan and Louis Neal. Both murders occurred in San Antonio, Texas.

Murder of Louis Menard Neal

Louis Menard Neal, 71, was slain June 7, 1991, in his 1-room, 6th floor apartment.

Neal’s decomposing body, bound and gagged, was found hanging from a bathroom fixture 5 days later. Neal had been beaten with a hammer and strangled with a bathrobe belt.

Cruz and Antonio Ovalle had been listening to music and drinking vodka when Cruz asked Neal for money. When Neal refused, Cruz began beating him. After hanging Neal from the shower railing, Cruz and Ovalle took a television, a radio, some suits and a gym bag.

Prior to leaving the apartment, Cruz wiped down the entire apartment in an attempt to eliminate any fingerprints. Ovalle’s fingerprints were identified on an ashtray found in Neal’s apartment.

Blood found on Neal’s shirt and on his floor was consistent with Cruz striking Neal on the face and dragging him into the bathroom. Neal’s hands were tied behind his back with a burgundy sock, a red sock was stuffed in his mouth, and a ligature was tied tightly around his neck. The cause of death was asphyxiation by hanging.

An autopsy revealed Neal had been dead for between two and ten days when he was found, consistent with Neal being murdered on June 7, 1991, and the autopsy being performed on June 13.

Cruz had been described as insisting on receiving money before having sex with Neal. Neal refused and Cruz beat, strangled and hung him from a shower rod.

Cruz also claimed he was not a homosexual, but had turned to male prostitution to support a heroin habit that led to the murders of two homosexual men.

Murder of James Michael Ryan

James Michael Ryan, 69, was strangled in his home in Olmos Park on July 14, 1991. His nude body was found in his bed a day later.

Ryan’s Cadillac and television had been stolen. Ovalle told police Cruz stole the items to buy heroin.

Ovalle and Dover placed items by the back door and heard a dog barking. Dover saw Ryan’s body lying on the bed and screamed. Ovalle and Dover left the house and jumped in the back of Garza’s truck.

Fingerprints taken from a plastic grocery bag and a box of Chivas Regal found in Ryan’s house matched those of Cruz. Ovalle’s prints matched those found on a clock radio and a plastic silverware container that belonged to Ryan.

Ryan had been dead for approximately twenty-four hours before he was brought into the morgue. Ryan almost certainly died of manual strangulation.

Stolen items and heroin purchases linked to both murders

After Neal’s murder, Cruz and Ovalle fled with a television, a radio, some suits and a gym bag. After Ryan’s murder, Cruz left with his television and Cadillac.

On Sunday morning, July 14, 1991, Oscar Garza met Cruz at a house often used as a drug connection. Cruz opened the trunk of a brown Cadillac and showed some guns he wanted to sell, including a .22 caliber rifle.

Cruz and Garza left in Garza’s black truck and drove to Our Lady of the Lake Park, where they met Ovalle and Pam Dover. Ovalle and Dover had gone to the park on Sunday morning to drink beer after spending Saturday night at the home of Ovalle’s father. Cruz told Ovalle he had some tires from a Cadillac to sell. Ovalle left with Cruz and Garza in Garza’s black truck.

The three men drove to where Cruz had left the Cadillac and removed the wheels and the floormats. They took the wheels and floormats to a friend’s house and sold them. After receiving money for the stolen parts, Cruz, Ovalle, and Garza went to a house next door and bought some heroin. Cruz and Garza dropped Ovalle off back at the park, where Ovalle injected the heroin.

Later, Garza and Cruz returned to the park and met Ovalle and Dover. Cruz called Ovalle over to talk to him and told him he had a bunch of stuff at a house and he had killed the man there. Cruz told Ovalle, "Yeah, I choked the motherf...er. He didn't want to die, man, he was putting up one hell of a fight."

Cruz, Garza, Ovalle, and Dover got into Garza’s truck, with Garza driving, Cruz in the front seat, and Ovalle and Dover in the back. They stopped for beer and then at a park where Dover got out to use the bathroom.

As Dover was coming out of the bathroom, Cruz was drawing a map of the house and explaining to Ovalle where everything was in the house. Garza then drove the truck to James Ryan’s house with Cruz giving directions on how to get there. Ovalle and Dover entered Ryan’s house through the back door, while Garza and Cruz drove around the block.

Investigation and evidence

Arrest-related interactions and statements

Two months after Ryan’s murder, Pamela Ann Dover, one of Cruz’s friends, was arrested for possession of marijuana and turned in Cruz.

Cruz was arrested on Oct. 22, 1991.

Ovalle later saw Cruz in court and Cruz told him that someone was snitching on them. Cruz also told Ovalle he was not going to let them kill him.

Dover fled to Oklahoma, and in September of 1991, she gave a statement to San Antonio police officers.

Crime Stoppers call and police follow-up

On August 14, 1991, Olmos Park police received a call from Crime Stoppers that a man had seen Ovalle in Ryan’s Cadillac. The police talked to Ovalle, who revealed where he had sold the tires and floormats. The buyer of the parts identified Cruz as one of the men who had sold them.

Police later talked to Pam Dover, who identified Cruz as the man responsible for the two murders. Dover and Ovalle related that Cruz told them that he was dating homosexual men to support his heroin habit, and that sometimes he robbed them and sometimes he had sex with them in exchange for money to buy heroin.

A police car drove past the truck as Ovalle and Dover left Ryan’s house.

Trial

Accomplice plea agreement and testimony

In a plea agreement, Antonio Omero Ovalle, Cruz’s accomplice, agreed to testify against Cruz in exchange for 2 concurrent life sentences in both cases.

Ovalle agreed to a plea bargain and testified against Cruz.

Cynthia Lobdell, an ex-girlfriend, also testified against Cruz. She said he was very abusive, made her a prostitute to support his addiction, and at one point tried to strangle her.

Defence and prosecution positions

At trial on Sept. 28, 1992, Scharmen attempted to prove that Cruz was only an observer and Ovalle had actually committed the murders. The defence was unable to convince a jury that Cruz would not be a continued threat to society if put in prison for life and kept off heroin.

Scharmen said Cruz himself was a victim because he grew up with an abusive father, and that Berchelmann said it fueled Cruz's drug-induced violent behavior.

Cruz’s mother, Theresa Cruz, lived with padlocks on her windows and doors because she was afraid he would come and hurt her, McClure said.

Verdict and conviction timing

On Oct. 1, 1992, Cruz was found guilty of capital murder and six days later was sentenced to death.

Sentencing

On Oct. 1, 1992, Cruz was found guilty of capital murder. Six days later, Cruz was sentenced to death.

Appeals and timing on death row

Cruz pursued all appeals available to him. Recent changes in death penalty appeals procedures were said to have quickened the process.

The US Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch appeal Tuesday.

Cruz was on death row for about 5 1/2 years, described as nearly 4 years shorter than average for death row inmates.

Outcome

Javier Cruz was executed by lethal injection in Texas on October 2, 1998.

Cruz was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m. after a lethal dose of chemicals began flowing into his veins, 7 minutes earlier.

Cruz declined to give a last statement while strapped to a gurney in the death chamber of the Walls Unit, but earlier wrote a brief statement that read:

"Thank you for setting me free. God bless you all. I love you Miguel. Take care of my angel Leslie."

The statement was signed, "Love, Javier Cruz."

Witnesses and final events

Miguel Cruz and the condemned man’s ex-wife, Sylvia Liendo, witnessed the execution at Javier Cruz’s request among 5 people. They declined to speak to reporters. While inside the observation room, Miguel Cruz comforted a crying Liendo with gentle pats on her back.

Two sons of James Michael Ryan—Daniel Ryan of Tampa, Fla., and James Ryan of Austin—were among those witnessing the execution in a separate chamber. No witnesses attended on behalf of the other victim, Louis Menard Neal.

Daniel Ryan said: "This is not closure to an event, this is a result of the criminal justice system. We still have to daily deal with what happened to us," and James Ryan said, "The system worked for us. We're fortunate it worked as fast as it did," and "(But) you don't get a big charge of satisfaction...there's no pleasure in this."

Earlier Thursday, Cruz wrote letters and visited with his family for about 3 hours before consuming his last meal. Cruz grew up in Laredo.

Cruz was described as the 15th condemned inmate to be executed this year in Texas and the 159th overall since Texas resumed capital punishment on Dec. 7, 1982. Cruz was described as the 4th condemned inmate from Bexar County (San Antonio) to be executed this year.

Other details

Cruz’s alleged crime spree was described as motivated by his drug craving.

An autopsy finding was included that Neal had been dead for between two and ten days when found, and that the finding was consistent with Neal being murdered on June 7, 1991, with the autopsy performed on June 13.

Assistant district attorney Robert McClure targeted elderly homosexuals, and McClure said, "He was willing to do whatever was required in order to be the serial killer that he was," and "He's like the wolf preying on the weak sheep."

Assistant district attorney Robert McClure also said, "Cruz was a predator," and that he "scoped out victims that were vulnerable, less likely to report and less likely to be cared about."

Scharmen agreed, saying, "He felt like he was getting revenge on these men for paying him for sex. There could have been more than these two murders. I don’t know this for sure, but Cruz was very angry."

George Scharmen said, "Heroin had become a lifestyle for Cruz." and "He was willing to do anything for it." and said Cruz hated men who paid him for sex.

Berchelmann said, "It's a tragedy all the way around. But it's a classic case of how drugs can turn somebody into something they otherwise wouldn't be," and "When he wasn't on the drugs, he was really a civil person."

Cruz was said to have given a lengthy gasp moments before he was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m.