'I'm ready to roll,' condemned man says just before being put to death in Texas

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) _ A parolee condemned for killing his two stepdaughters during a strangling spree almost 10 years ago was executed Wednesday night. <br/><br/>James Jackson thanked his family and

Wednesday, February 7th 2007, 9:37 pm

By: News On 6

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) _ A parolee condemned for killing his two stepdaughters during a strangling spree almost 10 years ago was executed Wednesday night.

James Jackson thanked his family and said he loved them. ``See you all on the other side,'' he told witnesses that included a brother and sister.

Jackson then told the warden standing over him, ``Warden, murder me ... I'm ready to roll. Time to get this party started.''

Seven minutes later, at 6:18 p.m., he was pronounced dead.

Jackson, 47, was the fourth convicted killer executed this year in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state.

The 6-foot-7 Jackson, known to fellow death row inmates as ``Big Jack,'' insisted he wasn't responsible for the April 9, 1997 slayings of Sonceria ``Sonnie'' Mayes, 19, and her sister Ericka, 18, at the apartment they shared with Jackson and his wife, Sharon, 39. Sharon Jackson, the girls' mother, also was murdered.

Prosecutor Julian Ramirez called it ``an open-and-shut case.'' In a confession introduced into evidence, Jackson said he killed the women, and a note left at the crime scene said he ``gave them back to God.'' Evidence showed Jackson pawned the woman's sewing machine and used the money to buy drugs.