Texas Executes Killer from Infamous Prison Break

Texas put to death Wednesday the convicted killer of a policeman who was also a member of the infamous "Texas Seven" gang that staged a notorious prison breakout, authorities said.

Donald Newbury, 52, was executed by lethal injection soon after the US Supreme Court -- which had delayed it twice -- gave the green light. 

He was declared dead at 6:25 pm (0025 GMT Thursday) in Huntsville, just a stone's throw from the facility he broke out of on December 13, 2000, said Texas corrections spokesman Jason Clark.

Newbury was sentenced to death in 2002 for killing police officer Aubrey Hawkins, 29. 

The policeman was struck by 11 bullets and run over during a department store robbery outside Dallas before Christmas 2000.

Newbury's legal team had failed to make the case successfully that his difficult childhood was a mitigating circumstance.

And while Newbury never denied taking part in the robbery, according to his high court appeal bid, "it was never established who fired the shots that killed officer Hawkins." 

He was the third member of the Texas Seven to be executed for the murder of the policeman.

Three others are on death row and the seventh committed suicide when he was being arrested with the others in January 2001.

In the breakout, the men held hostage 14 prison employees, roughed them up and then used their uniforms to break out. 

It was the seventh execution this year in the United States.