Texas executes defiant Gary Graham

(Huntsville, Texas-AP) -- Texas death row inmate Gary Graham has been executed for a 1981 murder he claimed to the end he did not<br>commit.<br><br>The 36-year-old Graham received a lethal injection for

Thursday, June 22nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Huntsville, Texas-AP) -- Texas death row inmate Gary Graham has been executed for a 1981 murder he claimed to the end he did not
commit.

The 36-year-old Graham received a lethal injection for the killing of a man in a holdup outside a Houston supermarket. The Texas parole board and appeals courts rejected his arguments that he was convicted on shaky evidence from a single eyewitness and that his trial lawyer did a poor job.

Eyewitnesses say before he died, Graham delivered a "long, rambling angry statement."

Graham reasserted his innocence and said he was being lynched.

The witnesses quoted Graham as saying: "I die fighting for what I believed in. The truth will come out."

Graham, who was black, said the death penalty was a "holocaust" for black Americans.