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The annals of criminal history stand as a testament to the tale of the Texas 7 who escaped the John B. Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas, and went on a spree of robberies, which led to the capital murder of Irving Officer Aubrey Wright Hawkins on Christmas.
The prison escape made it to international news, triggering one of the biggest manhunts in the history of law enforcement. Six of the Texas 7 were recaptured and given death sentences, while the seventh inmate, Larry James Harper, shot himself to death before his capture.
The Homicide for the Holidays Season 5 Episode 5 showcases the murder case of Officer Aubrey White and the involvement of the Texas 7 as the synopsis reads,
"After responding to a robbery at a sporting goods store on Christmas Eve, an Irving, Texas police officer is gunned down in cold blood. When the identity of the killers is discovered, the case explodes into a nationwide manhunt."
What were the Texas 7 originally convicted of, and where are they now?
George Angel Rivas Jr.
The reported leader of the Texas 7, 30-year-old George Rivas, was originally convicted for taking eight hostages and robbing a Toys ‘R’ Us store with an accomplice near Sunland Park Mall in West El Paso in May 1993.
Often referred to as the mastermind and fearless one out of the group, Dr. Richard E. Coons, a forensic psychiatrist who examined Rivas' file in 1994, wrote about him,
"He demonstrates an unusual degree of interest, creativity, and intensity in his craft. He is a mastermind and a leader. He is confident and arrogant. He has no conscience and does not speak the truth."
George Angel Rivas Jr. was executed on August 14, 2008, at 18:30. At the time of his escape, Rivas was serving 18 consecutive 15-to-life sentences.
Randy Ethan Halprin
Randy Halprin was convicted of child abuse after he broke the arms and legs of a 16-month-old. Halprin was babysitting for a friend he met at a homeless shelter when he beat the child's face, fractured his skull, and left him with a bloodied eye, according to The Dallas Morning News.
The youngest in the Texas 7, Halprin was serving a 30-year sentence initially. His execution, scheduled for October 10, 2019, was stayed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on October 4, 2019, owing to religious discrimination from his trial judge.
Larry James Harper
Larry James Harper was serving a 50-year sentence for aggravated sexual assault after he had bound and r*ped three women over six months in 1993 and 1994. Harper attended the University of Texas at El Paso where he took marketing classes till 1994.
Harper killed himself inside the escapees' RV at Woodland Park, Colorado where the seven resided as a religious group as he was about to be captured.
Patrick Henry Murphy Jr.
Patrick Henry Murphy Jr. was serving a 50-year sentence for breaking into a woman’s home and sexually assaulting her at knifepoint, according to the Texas Tribune.
The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of execution to the Texas inmate after postponing it once as the Texas officials refused to allow a Buddhist chaplain to enter the death chamber with him, according to NBC5.
Donald Keith Newbury
Newbury was serving a 99-year sentence with charges of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. He has the longest rap sheet of all the members in Texas 7 as he tried breaking out of the Travis County Jail. Newbury and two other inmates attacked two guards at the time, according to the Texas attorney general's office. He was paroled out once in 1985 and again in 1992.
Donald Keith Newbury was pronounced dead by lethal injection in Huntsville at 6:25 p.m., according to the Texas Tribune. He spoke to the Texas Tribune before his execution and said,
"We're not the Hannibal Lecters people believe."
Michael Anthony Rodriguez
Michael Anthony Rodriguez was serving a 99-to-life term for the capital murder of his wife, Theresa, in July 1992 in San Antonio. He had hired Rolando Ruiz Jr. for $2,000 for the job so that Rodriguez could collect her life insurance. Rodriguez and his brothers Mark, Joe Ramon, and Robert Silva were arrested.
Rodriguez was an alumnus of Texas State University where he had taken a teachers' training course. While Rolando Ruiz Jr. was executed for his crime on March 7, 2017, Rodriguez was the first of the Texas 7 to be executed on August 14, 2008, at 18:30 in the Huntsville Unit.
Michael Rodriguez's parents, Patsy Gomez and Raul Rodriguez were also indicted for conspiring to assist the Texas 7 during their escape.
Joseph Christopher Garcia
Joseph Christopher Garcia was convicted for the murder of Miguel Luna in 1996.
He was serving a 50-year sentence before the escape for stabbing Luna in a drunken fight which he claimed to be in self-defense. He wrote in the Chronicle before his execution,
"I am on death row because of the actions and intent of others and because I am one of the Texas Seven, case closed. Is it right that I should be murdered for something that I did not do?"
Garcia was allegedly caught in the middle of the crime spree led by the Texas 7 leader George Rivas. He was executed on December 4, 2018, at 18:43 at the Huntsville Unit.
