Luis Ramirez

Overview

Luis Ramirez was a Hispanic male executed by lethal injection in Texas on October 20, 2005. He had been sentenced to death for the 1998 capital murder of Nemecio Nandin in Miles, Texas.

Timeline

• Late 1995 — Luis Ramirez and Dawn Ramirez divorced.
• 1997 — Dawn Ramirez began dating Nemecio Nandin.
• April 8, 1998 — Edward Bell phoned Nemecio Nandin in Miles to ask for service on a broken dryer; when Nandin arrived, he was handcuffed, taken to a chicken coop on the property, and shot in the head with a shotgun from the house; his body was buried in a shallow grave on the property.
• June 4, 1998 — Ramirez was indicted for the capital offense of solicitation of capital murder.
• May 7, 1999 — Ramirez was convicted of capital murder.
• May 14, 1999 — Ramirez was sentenced to death.
• March 14, 2001 — Ramirez filed his original application for writ of habeas corpus in the state trial court.
• April 2001 — Ms. Raby testified at an evidentiary hearing held in San Angelo before Judge Ben Woodward.
• February 13, 2002 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Ramirez’s conviction & sentence.
• June 10, 2002 — The state trial court recommended that habeas relief be denied.
• October 23, 2002 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied habeas corpus relief.
• March 27, 2003 — Ramirez filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in a U.S. district court.
• September 2003 — Ramirez wrote “what’s in the brown paper bag?”.
• February 10, 2004 — The federal district court denied habeas corpus relief.
• March 9, 2004 — Ramirez filed a motion for a certificate of appealability (COA) in a U.S. district court.
• March 11, 2004 — The federal district court denied Ramirez’s request for a COA.
• July 16, 2004 — Ramirez filed a motion for a COA in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
• January 27, 2005 — The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Ramirez’s request for a COA.
• April 27, 2005 — Ramirez filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court.
• October 3, 2005 — The Supreme Court denied the petition.
• October 20, 2005 — Ramirez’s scheduled execution date; the lethal injection was started; Ramirez was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m.
• October 21, 2005 — Protesting his innocence until the end, Ramirez was described as put to death Thursday night.

Background

Luis Ramirez was a Hispanic male, age 42 at the time of his scheduled execution, with black hair, standing 5 ft 05 in tall, weighing 148, and having brown eyes. He was convicted in Tom Green County. The co-defendant was Edward Bell.

Luis and Dawn Ramirez divorced in late 1995. Two years later, Mrs. Ramirez began dating Nemecio Nandin, a fireman who operated a small side business repairing washers and dryers. The relationship angered Luis Ramirez, who was repeatedly heard threatening to harm Nandin.

The offence

Nemecio Nandin was murdered in Miles, Texas on April 8, 1998. A few days before Nandin was murdered, Ramirez was spotted meeting with Edward Bell, and at about the same time, Bell told a friend that he had been hired to kill a fireman for a thousand dollars.

Bell phoned Nandin alone in a home in Miles on April 8, 1998 to ask for service on a broken dryer. When Nandin arrived at the residence, he was handcuffed, taken to a chicken coop on the property, and shot in the head with a shotgun from the house. Nandin’s body was buried in a shallow grave on the property. Ramirez was at the house either before Nandin arrived or shortly thereafter.

Later that evening, Bell and his girlfriend drove back to the residence where the murder occurred. Along the way, Bell threw a pair of yellow latex cleaning gloves out the car window. Bell later fled to Tyler, Texas.

Investigation

After discovery of Nandin’s body and Bell’s arrest in Tyler, investigators searched the vehicle Bell was driving and found Bell’s wallet, which contained one of Ramirez’s business cards, a hand drawn map to Dawn Ramirez’s home, a description of her vehicle, and her license plate number, all of which was in Luis Ramirez’s handwriting. Investigators also found a pair of jeans covered in Nandin’s blood.

Bell’s girlfriend led investigators to the location where Bell had disposed of the rubber gloves the day of the murder, where investigators found one glove and Nandin’s truck keys.

Witness testimony established that Nandin had paid Bell for his assistance in several small amounts. Evidence also indicated that Nandin had paid Bell for assistance in several small amounts, and that Bell had no apparent means of support.

A subsequent search of Bell’s girlfriend’s car revealed Bell’s wallet, containing two of Ramirez’s business cards and handwritten notes including directions to Dawn Holquin’s house, her address, her uncle’s address, and descriptions of her and her uncle’s cars. Police also discovered in the car a pair of jeans and a glove spattered with Nandin’s blood.

Shortly after the murder, but before his arrest, Bell described the murder to the man he was staying with. Bell told the man that he and Ramirez had gone to the house where the murder occurred, called Nandin for a washer repair, handcuffed Nandin when he arrived, and shot him with a shotgun, burying him on the property.

Police later recovered the gloves and a set of keys fitting Nandin’s truck. Testimony indicated that Ramirez had purchased the same brand of handcuffs years earlier.

An informant told police that Luis Ramirez had offered him $1,000 to kill Nandin, but that Bell was hired instead.

Arrest

Bell was arrested in Tyler, Texas.

Trial

Ramirez’s sentencing and conviction resulted from trial proceedings in which evidence about Ramirez’s threats and abuse allegations was presented, along with testimony about the solicitation and the murder-for-hire scheme.

Charges

• Ramirez was indicted for the capital offense of solicitation of capital murder.

Verdict and conviction

• A jury convicted Ramirez of capital murder in 1999.

Witnesses and evidence

The evidence presented at trial included:

• Testimony that Ramirez and Bell repeatedly discussed killing Dawn Ramirez and threatened her in writing.
• Dawn Ramirez testified to the jury that her former husband got angry when she became pregnant, that he verbally abused her, physically abused her, sexually assaulted her, and isolated her from her parents. She also told the jury that Ramirez’s threats against her life continued even after the couple separated.
• Ramirez’s first ex-wife testified that Ramirez was physically abusive towards her.
• Dawn Ramirez told the jury that ex-husband destroyed her car in order to collect insurance money, “trashed” a house she was trying to sell, and thought of his guns as toys.
• Other witnesses testified that Luis Ramirez wanted to kill his former wife’s uncle and had begun to plan the crime, that he had slashed the tires on the car of one man Mrs. Ramirez had dated, and that he had threatened another man who was acquainted with her through work.
• Timothy Hoogstra testified at trial that a few days before the killing, Edward Bell told him that Ramirez had hired him to kill a fireman for $1,000.
• Hoogstra also testified that after the murder Bell told him that he and Ramirez went to the house, called Nandin for a repair, and then handcuffed and shot him.
• The state introduced evidence suggesting a plausible timeline for Ramirez to have been with Bell at the murder scene.
• Ramirez’s girlfriend testified that on the day of the murder Ramirez had packed a bag and left his home between 12:30 and 1:00 P.M. and returned around 3:00 or 3:30 P.M.
• The state introduced evidence that Ramirez and Bell were seen together after the murder and that on at least one occasion Bell returned from such a meeting with cash.

Testimony also indicated that Nandin had a side job as an appliance repairman, and that Ramirez’s daughter testified that Ramirez was visibly upset about his ex-wife’s relationship with Nandin.

Sentencing

• The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Ramirez’s conviction & sentence on February 13, 2002.
• Edward Bell was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Appeals

State habeas and direct review

Federal habeas and COA proceedings

• district court.
• district court.
• Circuit Court of Appeals.

Supreme Court

• Supreme Court.

Appellate holdings from Ramirez v. Dretke

In Ramirez v. Dretke, 398 F.3d 691 (5th Cir.), the Court of Appeals denied certificate of appealability.

The case included issues that Ramirez raised:

• insufficient evidence to convict
• violation of the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause due to admission of Bell’s out-of-court statements implicating Ramirez
• jury instruction in the punishment phase
• ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to locate, interview, and subpoena an alibi witness
• ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to object to the trial court’s punishment charge

The holdings stated that:

• sufficiency of evidence to convict was not debatable;
• trial court’s admission of accomplice’s hearsay statements was not contrary to or unreasonable application of Sixth Amendment;
• jury instruction in guilt phase did not improperly permit jury to condemn without finding of intent;
• petitioner's failure to prove incorrect state court's finding that he had failed to inform his trial counsel of alibi witness prior to trial precluded relief on ineffective assistance grounds. Certificate of appealability denied.

Outcome

Luis Ramirez was executed by lethal injection in Texas on October 20, 2005. The lethal injection was started after his last statement, and he was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. After the execution, family members made statements indicating they believed justice was done.

Aftermath and contemporaneous statements

Ramirez’s statements at execution

Ramirez made a series of statements before execution. He told reporters in an interview the week before his execution:

"I didn't do this," Ramirez told a reporter in an interview the week before his execution. "I have no idea who did. I didn't even have a parking ticket on my record."

In his last statement at his execution, Ramirez told Nandin’s siblings:

"I did not kill your loved one," Ramirez told Nandin's siblings in his last statement at his execution. "I wish I could tell you the reason why or give some kind of solace. You lost someone you love very much, the same as my family and friends are going to lose in a few minutes. I am sure he died unjustly, just like I am. I did not murder him. I did not have anything to do with his death."

In another description of his final statement, Ramirez told four siblings:

“I did not kill your loved one, but I hope that one day you find out who did,” Ramirez told four siblings of Nemecio Nandin. “I wish I could tell you the reason why or give some kind of solace. You lost someone you love very much, the same as my family and friends are going to lose in a few minutes. “I am sure he died unjustly, just like I am. I did not murder him. I did not have anything to do with his death.”

As the drugs began to flow, Ramirez told witnesses:

“It’s OK. It’s all right. I’m not afraid.”

In the same account, he told his chosen witnesses:

In another report, Ramirez told witnesses:

“Even though I die, that love for you will never die,” he said.

Family statements

After the execution, Nandin’s brother Able Nandin delivered a statement on behalf of the family:

“To my brother, Nemecio,” Able Nandin continued, “justice was done. We love you.”

In another report, Able Nandin said:

“We just wanted to know justice would be done.”
“Justice was done.”

He also added:

“We miss you and we love you.”

Other details

Identity and description in execution-related information

Ramirez was described as a 42-year-old Hispanic man scheduled for execution after 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 20, 2005.

Alibi claims and alleged trial issues described by Ramirez

Ramirez claimed he was innocent and stated that he was seventy miles away at the time of the murder, checking on some property. He stated that the owner of the property, Pat Raby, could have corroborated his alibi, but she was not called to testify at his trial. Ramirez wrote that:

"the DA was able to trip her up" and discredit her testimony because three years had passed and she had forgotten some details.

Ramirez also wrote:

"The case against me is entirely circumstantial,"
"It lacks all basic proof. There is no physical evidence .. No Scientific evidence. No DNA. No witnesses.. And no murder weapon. My conviction is based solely on the testimony of Tim Hoogstre, a police paid informant ... A rumor, Hoogstra had no first hand knowledge of the crime. Bell was never called to testify. Nor has he ever given a statement to corroborate Hoogstra's testimony."

Ramirez wrote in another statement that he had been questioned about Nandin’s disappearance on April 13, 1998 by Texas Ranger Joe Hunt, and that he was working for a mortgage company requiring him to travel regularly across West Texas. He also described that:

• he could not remember where he had been on the day of the crime until a secretary reminded him he had been in Brady, Texas to do a “lot evaluation,” and that he had car trouble.
• he stated that without his knowledge a lady friend and her daughter traveled with him on April 8, 1998 and gave an approximate account that led to statements not being identical.
• he stated that after their statements he was released and told he was not a suspect.
• he stated that four days later a SWAT team broke into his house at 3:00 am and he was arrested and had been incarcerated ever since.

Ramirez also alleged that his conviction was based solely on Timothy Hoogstra’s testimony, and asserted Hoogstra was a “daily drug abuser,” was paid $500 prior to testifying, and had a history of shoplifting and other pending charges for which he was promised “crime stopper” money upon Ramirez’s conviction. He further wrote:

“A rumor, Hoogstra had no first hand knowledge of the crime. Bell was never called to testify. Nor has he ever given a statement to corroborate Hoogstra's testimony.”

Ramirez described alleged failures regarding locating and subpoenaing an alibi witness, and described an evidentiary hearing held in April 2001 before Judge Ben Woodward where Ms. Raby’s testimony was discussed and contradicted by the district attorney.

Proximity of Nandin’s body discovery and related claims

Ramirez’s description of Nandin’s disappearance and reporting stated that Nandin went missing from April 8, 1998 until April 17, 1998 and that his body was found at a rural residence near Miles, Tx.

Co-defendant

Edward Bell was the co-defendant. He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Other named individuals connected to the evidence

The record included other named individuals in relation to events and testimony, including:

• Nemecio Nandin, a fireman and part-time washer/dryer repairman
• Dawn Ramirez
• Dawn Holquin
• Edward Bell
• Nemecio Nandin’s truck keys
• Lisa McDowell
• Lana Riordan (Riordan House owner)
• Timothy Hoogstra
• Ginger Herring
• Pat Raby
• J.K. “RUSTY” WALL
• Gonzalo Rios
• Judge Ben Woodward
• Judge Sam Cummings
• Emilio M. Garza (Circuit Judge)
• Timothy Hoogstra (trial witness and informant)
• Able Nandin (Nandin’s brother)