The bizarre last words of a death row killer executed today for murdering his wife’s family have been revealed.

Billie Wayne Coble was pronounced dead tonight at 6.24pm CST (00.24 GMT) from lethal injection at the state death chamber in Huntsville, Texas.

The 70-year-old was convicted of murdering his estranged wife’s parents and brother in 1989, and executed hours after the US Supreme Court denied a petition seeking a reprieve on grounds he received inadequate defence at his trial.

His last words, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, were: "That will be five dollars. Take care."

Coble, a Vietnam War veteran and electrician, was convicted in 1990 of slaying his estranged wife’s mother and father,
Robert and Zelda Vicha, and her brother, John "Bobby" Vicha, who was a police sergeant. Coble’s wife had sought a divorce at the time.

He ambushed the three victims and shot them at their home in Axtell, a small community 100 miles north of the state capital, Austin.

The killer then kidnapped his estranged wife and drove off with her. He was chased by police and, while driving, stabbed her with a knife.

He eventually crashed into a parked car and was arrested. His wife survived.

His death marks was the third execution this year in the United States and the second in Texas, which has put more  inmates to death than any other state since the US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.

"The public’s interest is not advanced by staying Coble’s execution to consider a procedurally defaulted and meritless
claim based on a decision handed down three decades after Coble terrorized and murdered his ex-wife’s entire family," Texas Assistant Attorney General Gwendolyn Vindell wrote.

The Supreme Court denied Coble’s application for a stay without comment on Thursday afternoon.

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