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Richard Charles
DUNCAN
A.K.A.: "Chuck"
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: To
collect insurance money
Number of victims: 2
Date of murders: October 7,
1987
Date
of arrest:
August
1993
Date of birth:
May 19,
1942
Victims profile: John
Abner High, 71, and Ruth Brown High, 73 (the parents of his homosexual
lover)
Method of murder:
Smothering / Beating with a blunt instrument
Location: Harris County, Texas, USA
Status: Executed
by lethal injection in Texas on December 3,
2003
In l987, Ken High, one of the Highs' two adult sons, found his
parents dead in their home. Ruth High was found in bed and John High
was lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor.
A gas cooker was also found connected to an open gas jet behind a
washing machine. The open gas jet filled the room with a gas odor.
There was a large candle on the table in the den. Both Ruth's and
John's wills were open on John's desk.
All the doors and windows in the house were closed and locked.
Although it initially appeared the deaths were accidental, autopsies
revealed that Ruth High had been smothered, and John High had been
struck in the head with an unknown object, resulting in six
lacerations. John's body also had several abrasions that the medical
examiner described as defensive wounds, and several broken ribs.
The case went unsolved for almost six years until
Houston police received an anonymous phone call that indicated
Duncan was the killer.
Police identified the caller as Robert Alexander, who was involved
with both Duncan and Gary High. The three were intimately involved
and lived together. Alexander was granted immunity, and the police
arranged for him to tape telephone conversations with Duncan, who
was then living in Seattle.
Duncan made incriminating statements about needing the life
insurance money for their failing computer business, and tried to
explain the deaths as mercy killings because of the victims' failing
health.
Final Meal:
Fried chicken, french fries, berry cobbler and a Coke.
Final Words:
"I did have, but now I see my family here and everything - all I
want to say is I love you all so much. I am innocent. I love you all
so much. You are beautiful. Okay Warden, I am through."
ClarkProsecutor.org
Texas Attorney General
Media Advisory
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Richard Charles Duncan Scheduled To Be Executed
AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott
offers the following information on 61-year-old Richard Charles
Duncan, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Wednesday,
December 3, 2003.
In May, 1995, Duncan was sentenced to death for
the murders of 71-year-old John Abner High and his wife, 73-year-old
Ruth Brown High, at the couple's Houston, Texas home on October 7,
1987.
FACTS OF THE CRIME
On October 7, 1987, Ken High one of the Highs'
two adult sons, found his parents dead in their home. Ruth High was
found in bed and John High was lying in a pool of blood on the
kitchen floor. A gas cooker was also found connected to an open gas
jet behind a washing machine.
The open gas jet filled the room with
a gas odor. There was a large candle on the table in the den. Both
Ruth's and John's wills were open on John's desk. All the doors and
windows in the house were closed and locked.
Although it initially
appeared the deaths were accidental, autopsies revealed that Ruth
High had been smothered, and John High had been struck in the head
with an unknown object, resulting in six lacerations. John's body
also had several abrasions that the medical examiner described as
defensive wounds, and several broken ribs.
Gary High, the Highs' other son, had been in a
homosexual relationship with Duncan for over twenty years. At some
point, a third man, Robert Alexander, became involved with both
Duncan and Gary High. The three were intimately involved and lived
together. Duncan and Gary High were also business partners in a
computer software business named Hitech Microsystems.
The murder case sat dormant until August 1993
when Robert Alexander made an anonymous call to the Houston Police
Department. The police ascertained the identity of the caller as
Alexander; he was granted immunity, and the police arranged for him
to tape telephone conversations between he and Duncan who was then
living in Seattle.
Duncan made incriminating statements during his
phone calls and a warrant was issued for Duncan's arrest. After his
arrest in Seattle, Duncan made a taped statement in which he
characterized the killings as "mercy killings," and freely admitted
his involvement. According to Duncan, Ruth High had complained to
him about John High's deteriorating health and had asked Duncan to
arrange for she and John High to be killed.
Duncan further explained
that he had arranged for a yard worker named Oscar Rodriguez to kill
the Highs for $5,000. However, business records for the company
which allegedly employed Rodriguez showed no employee by that name
in 1987. Duncan also explained that he had originally told Robert
Alexander that he killed the Highs because he wanted the yard worker
to escape free and clear.
Robert Alexander testified at Duncan's trial that
Duncan called him and Gary High in Seattle from the Hitech office in
Houston on October 7 and 8, 1987, and admitted that he had killed
the Highs. Alexander further testified that prior to the murders,
Hitech had run into financial difficulties and that Duncan had
speculated about ways to kill the Highs so that Gary High could come
into his inheritance.
These plans included using a propane gas
cooker to create a gas leak to make the deaths appear accidental.
Finally, Alexander testified that he, Duncan, and Gary High met
after the murders to devise a common story to tell the police.
In addition to testimony of Robert Alexander and
Duncan's own admissions during taped phone calls and his later
confession to police, the State also relied on the testimony of the
Highs' then-neighbor Kyle Christoffel to convict Duncan.
The
neighbor testified that on the morning after the murders, Duncan
explained to him that John High had purchased a gas shrimp cooker,
hooked it to a gas jet in the utility room, attempted to light it,
became tangled in the hose, and then tripped and fell.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Trial and direct appeal proceedings
May 1995 A Harris County, Texas jury convicts
Richard Charles Duncan of capital murder and assesses a punishment
of death.
10/08/97 On direct appeal, the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals denies relief on sixteen points of error, and
affirms Duncan's conviction and sentence. Duncan v. State, No.
72,132 (Tex. Crim. App. 1997).
12/18/97 The Court of Criminal Appeals denies
rehearing.
10/05/98 The United States Supreme Court denies
certiorari review. Duncan v. Texas, 525 U.S. 829 (1998).
State habeas proceedings
04/06/98 While his direct appeal was pending,
Duncan files an application for writ of habeas corpus raising
thirteen grounds for relief.
10/11/00 The Court of Criminal Appeals
independently reviews the record, adopts the trial judge's findings
and conclusions, and denies relief. Ex Parte Duncan, Appl. No.
46,927-01 (Tex. Crim. App.) (2000).
Federal habeas proceedings
10/11/01 Duncan files a federal writ of habeas
corpus petition raising sixteen claims.
08/01/02 The United States District Court for the
Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, denies habeas relief
and denied the subsequent application for a certificate of
appealability ("COA"). Duncan v. Cockrell, No. H-01-3515 (S.D.
Tex.)(2002).
10/15/02 Duncan applies for a COA from the Fifth
Circuit Court of Appeals.
07/03/03 The Fifth Circuit denies the request in
an unpublished opinion, Duncan v. Cockrell, No. 02-20901 (5th Cir.
2003), and Duncan does not seek rehearing.
08/27/03 The 230th Judicial District Court of
Harris County, Texas, sets Duncan's execution for Wednesday December
3, 2003.
09/30/03 Duncan petitions the United States
Supreme Court for certiorari review. Duncan v.Dretke, No. 03-6765.
ProDeathPenalty.com
Richard Duncan was sentenced to die after he
murdered his lover's parents to get money for a failing computer
business. Duncan was convicted in 1993 of the October 1987 murders
of John High, 72, who had been beaten, and his wife Ruth, 73, who
had been smothered in their Houston home.
Their son Gary High had
been in a relationship with Duncan for over twenty years. At some
point, a third man, Robert Alexander, became roommates with High and
Duncan; Mr. Alexander also shared in a computer business with them,
Hitech Microsystems.
In August 1993, Alexander told Houston detectives
that Duncan had admitted killing the High couple to gain Gary's
share of a $500,000 estate. Both deaths were originally thought to
be accidental.
The police arranged for Alexander to tape telephone
conversations between himself and Duncan, who was at this point
residing in Seattle, Washington. Duncan made incriminating
statements in his conversations with Alexander and Duncan was
arrested in Seattle.
After his arrest, Duncan made a tape statement
in which he described the Highs' deaths as "mercy killings." He
stated that Ruth High had complained to him about John High's
deteriorating heath and had asked Duncan to arrange for she and John
High to be killed.
UPDATE: Good looks and smarts couldn't save
Richard Charles Duncan from death row. "The thing that jumps out at
me is he's not the typical defendant anyone would expect to see on
death row," Harris County assistant district attorney Kelly Siegler
said, describing him as well educated, intelligent, well-groomed and
distinguished.
Duncan, set for lethal injection Wednesday night, was
condemned for killing an elderly Houston couple more than 16 years
ago. John High, 72, and his 74-year-old wife, Ruth, the parents of
Duncan's homosexual lover, were killed Oct. 8, 1987 at their Houston
home. Duncan hoped to use his lover's share of their $500,000 life
insurance to save his collapsing computer business, according to
prosecutors. "It was all about money," Siegler said.
The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to review
his case. Duncan, 61, would be the 23rd convicted killer to receive
lethal injection in Texas this year and the first of five scheduled
to die over the next eight days.
Another condemned prisoner, Ivan
Murphy, 38, was set to die Thursday night for the slaying of an
80-year-old woman almost 15 years ago at her home in Denison. Three
more executions are scheduled for consecutive days next week in the
nation's most active death penalty state.
Authorities initially
believed the couple was asphyxiated by gas, but autopsy results
confirmed suspicions they were killed deliberately. John High had
been beaten to the head and was found on the kitchen floor. His wife
was smothered, probably with a pillow, and her body was arranged in
her bed to make it look like she died reading a book. Their killer
turned on a portable gas stove and locked the door behind him as he
left.
More than six years later, Robert John Alexander,
who met Duncan in a gay bar in Houston and later lived with Duncan
and the Highs' son, Gary, told police Duncan claimed credit for the
slayings. "'I did it. I did it. They're gone,'" Alexander told
authorities, repeating the words he said Duncan told him. "'Ruth and
John. They're at peace.'"
According to court documents, Duncan had
mentioned earlier that the couple's deaths would solve his financial
problems. Homicide investigators arranged with Alexander, who also
was involved in the failing computer business with Gary High and
Duncan, to talk about the slayings in conversations that were taped.
Duncan, living in the Seattle area at the time, was arrested and
returned to Houston, where Alexander testified against him at his
trial. Neither Alexander nor Gary High was implicated in the plot to
kill the couple. Siegler said Duncan tried to explain the deaths as
mercy killings because of the victims' failing health.
A Harris
County jury in 1995 took only 20 minutes before finding him guilty
of capital murder. Duncan had no previous criminal record. He
declined to speak with reporters in the weeks leading up to his
scheduled punishment.
Richard Charles Duncan
Txexecutions.org
Richard Charles Duncan, 61, was executed by
lethal injection on 3 December 2003 in Huntsville, Texas for the
murder of his partner's parents.
On 7 October 1987, Ken High found his parents
dead in their home. John High, 71, was lying in a pool of blood on
the kitchen floor. His wife, Ruth, 73, was in bed. Ken High also
observed a gas odor in the house.
A gas cooker was connected behind
the washing machine, with the valve open. Police originally thought
that Mr. High had fallen and struck his head while attempting to
light the cooker, and that both he and Mrs. High asphyxiated from
the gas fumes.
However, an autopsy showed that John High had been
beaten on the head with a blunt object. He also had several broken
ribs, and cuts on his arms, which the examiner called "defensive
wounds." Ruth High had been smothered.
A book was next to her on the
bed, suggesting that she had fallen asleep while reading, but her
reading glasses were across the room. Both of the High's wills were
found open on Mr. High's desk. The autopsy report stated that Mr.
High died three hours after Mrs. High.
Richard Duncan, 45 was the police's prime suspect
in the couple's murder. Duncan was the longtime homosexual partner
and business partner of the High's younger son, Gary. However,
police never found the murder weapon and did not have enough
evidence to charge Duncan, so the case remained unsolved for seven
years.
Duncan and Gary High lived together with a third
man, Robert Alexander, and also had a homosexual relationship with
him. In August 1993, Alexander made a phone call to the Houston
Police Department. He was no longer involved with Duncan and High
and said that he wanted to clear his conscience.
Alexander was
granted immunity. In taped telephone conversations between himself
and Duncan, who was living in Seattle, Duncan made incriminating
statements that resulted in his arrest in February 1994.
After his arrest, Duncan told police that Ruth
High had complained to him about her husband's deteriorating health,
and she asked him to make arrangements for both of them to be killed.
He said that he paid a man named Oscar Rodriguez $5,000 to kill the
Highs in what he called "mercy killings."
Duncan said that he told
Robert Alexander that he killed the Highs himself in order to
protect Rodriguez. Investigators could not confirm whether Oscar
Rodriguez was a real person or a fictitious one.
At Duncan's trial, Alexander testified that he,
Duncan, and Gary High lived together as a "family" where Duncan was
the head. Duncan and Gary's computer business had run into financial
difficulties, he stated, and Duncan speculated about killing the
Highs so that Gary could claim his share of the High's $550,000
estate.
Alexander testified that Duncan had discussed using a gas
cooker to make the deaths appear accidental. On 7 and 8 October
1987, while High and Alexander were in Seattle looking for work,
Duncan called to inform them that he had killed John and Ruth High.
"I did it. I've done it. They're gone," he said Duncan told him over
the phone. "They are at peace now. And oh God, Robert, John fought
me. He fought me really hard." Finally, Alexander testified that he,
Duncan, and High met after the murders to devise a common story to
tell the police.
In addition to Alexander's testimony, Duncan's
confession, and Duncan's taped telephone conversations with
Alexander, the High's neighbor, Kyle Christoffel, also testified.
Christoffel stated that on the morning after the murders, Duncan
told him that John High purchased a gas cooker, hooked it up to an
outlet in the utility room, turned it on to light it, became
entangled on the hose, and then tripped and fell.
Prosecutors said the autopsy report showed that
after Duncan murdered Mrs. High, he waited in the house for three
hours for her husband to come home from work. This, they said,
proved that the murders were premeditated.
Duncan had no prior criminal history.
A jury convicted Duncan of capital murder in May
1995 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
upheld the conviction and sentence in October 1997.
All of his
subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied. Gary High
was never charged and was never called to testify in the case.
Duncan's appeals lawyer said that High has refuted Alexander's
testimony. "I am innocent, and you know that," Duncan told his
friends at his execution. "I love you all so much. You are beautiful."
He was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m.
Man Who Killed Couple for Estate $$$ Executed
in Texas
TheDeathHouse.com
December 4, 2003
HUNTSVILLE, Tex. - A man who murdered the parents
of his homosexual lover hoping to obtain $500,000 from their estate
was executed by lethal injection at the state prison here Wednesday
night.
Richard Duncan, 61, was put to death for the 1987 slayings of
John High, 71, and his wife, Ruth High, 73, in Houston. Duncan,
wearing standard-issue prison whites, proclaimed his innocence in
the death chamber moments before the lethal injection began. "I'm
innocent - Y'all know that," Duncan said. "I love you all so much.
Your beautiful."
Duncan was speaking to a group of friends who had come to witness
his execution. The chemicals began to flow into his arm at 6:13 p.m.
and Duncan was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m., becoming the 23rd
convicted killer put to death in the state in 2003.
That is tops in
the nation. Duncan, who had been described as intelligent, well
groomed and "distinguished looking," requested a last meal that
included fried chicken, french fries, berry cobbler and a Coke.
Friend Turns Informant
The murder of the Highs remained unsolved for
seven years because of a lack of direct physical evidence against
Duncan. However, Duncan later incriminated himself and told of the
murders during audio taped conversations with a friend, who had
turned police informant.
The Highs were killed Oct. 7, 1987. Police
initally believed the couple died due to a gas leak. A gas cooker
was found connected to an open gas jet. But autopsies later revealed
that John High was beaten to death and his wife strangled. Duncan
killed the couple in the hopes of getting half of their $500,000
estate from their son, Gary, who he had had a homosexual
relationship with for 20 years, prosecutors stated.
Taped Phone Conversation Key
The key break in the case, according to court
documents, was when Robert Alexander, who had lived with Duncan and
High, told Houston lawmen that Duncan had killed the couple. In
1993, Alexander made an anonymous call to police saying that Duncan
had killed the Highs.
Police identified him and arranged to have him
audio tape conversations with Duncan. During taped phone
conversations with Alexander, Duncan allegedly made incriminating
statements.
'Mercy Killings'
Duncan and Gary High were business partners in
computer software company that was in financial trouble. After his
arrest, Duncan told lawmen that the murders of the Highs were "mercy
killings."
He claimed that Ruth High had complained to him about her
husband's deteriorating health and asked Duncan to arrange to have
them killed. Duncan claimed he had arranged for a Mexican yard
worker, Oscar Rodriquez, to kill the couple for $5,000.
This man
could not be identified by police. Duncan later said that he had
told Alexander that he had killed the couple in an effort to protect
the Mexican yard worker. Prosecutors and police did not buy the
story.
Money Problems
Alexander further testified that prior to the
murders, Duncan and Gary High's company was in financial difficulty
and that Duncan was thinking of ways to kill the Highs so that Gary
High could claim his inheritance. These plans included using a
propane gas cooker to create a gas leak to make the deaths appear
accidental.
Alexander testified that he, Duncan, and Gary High met
after the murders to devise a story to tell the police. In addition
to the testimony of Alexander and Duncan's own admissions,
prosecutors also relied on the testimony of the Highs' then-neighbor.
The neighbor testified that on the morning after the murders, Duncan
explained to him that John High bought a gas shrimp cooker, hooked
it to a gas jet in the utility room, attempted to light it, then
became tangled in the hose and fell.
Houston man executed for 1987 murders
By Brian Lacy -
Huntsville Item
December 4, 2003
Richard Charles "Chuck" Duncan, convicted for the
1987 murder of his boyfriend's parents, was executed Wednesday night
inside the Huntsville "Walls" Unit. Money is believed to be the
motive for the crime.
Duncan, 61, was hoping to share the $500,000
in life insurance Gary High would have received after his father,
John, and mother, Ruth, were killed. Duncan and Gary were business
partners in a struggling computer software company.
Duncan was going to make a final statement
Wednesday night, but said, "Now that I see my family here and
everything, all I want to say is I love you all so much. I'm
innocent and you know that. You're all so beautiful.''
As the lethal
injection started, Duncan continued to look toward the five friends
her referred to as family, saying, "They're so beautiful. Aren't
they?" He then gasped several times before falling silent. He was
pronounced death at 6:21 p.m.
Wendy High Thomas, granddaughter of John and Ruth
High, read a statement from the family after the execution. "Today,
we finally feel that justice has been served," she said. "All of us
have had very trying days, especially our dad. We only hope this day
will bring some closure for us, but it will never replace our loss
or the precious lives that have been taken from us."
Friends of Duncan stood by their belief that an
innocent man was executed. "The state of Texas has just executed
another innocent man," Vernon Stobbs said, standing outside the
prison after the execution. "It appears in Texas that a person is
guilty until proven innocent."
The case went unsolved for almost six years until
Houston police received an anonymous phone call that indicated
Duncan was the killer. Police identified the caller as Robert
Alexander, who was involved with both Duncan and Gary High.
The
three were intimately involved and lived together. Alexander was
granted immunity, and the police arranged for him to tape telephone
conversations with Duncan, who was then living in Seattle. Duncan
made incriminating statements during his phone calls and a warrant
was issued for his arrest.
Killer executed for pair of '87 Houston murders
By Michael Graczyk -
San Antonio Express
Associated Press 12/04/2003
HUNTSVILLE — Convicted killer Richard Charles "Chuck"
Duncan was executed Wednesday night for the slayings of the parents
of his boyfriend at their Houston home more than 16 years ago.
Testimony at his trial showed Duncan hoped to share the $500,000
life insurance of John High, 71, and High's 73-year-old wife, Ruth,
to save the failing computer business he ran with the couple's son
and another man.
Asked if he had a final statement, Duncan said he
did, but instead replied: "Now that I see my family here and
everything, all I want to say is I love you all so much. I'm
innocent, and you know that. You're all so beautiful." Duncan, 61,
gasped several times and was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m., five
minutes after receiving the injection.
Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review
his case.
Authorities initially believed High and his wife
were asphyxiated by gas, but autopsy results confirmed they were
murdered. John High had been beaten to the head and was found Oct.
8, 1987, on the kitchen floor. His wife was smothered, probably with
a pillow, and her body was arranged in her bed to make it look like
she died reading a book. Their killer turned on a portable gas stove
and locked the door behind him as he left.
The deaths went unsolved for more than six years
until Robert John Alexander, who met Duncan in a gay bar in Houston
and later lived with Duncan and the Highs' son, Gary, told police
Duncan claimed credit for the slayings. Alexander also was involved
in the computer business. According to court documents, Duncan had
mentioned earlier that the couple's deaths would solve his financial
problems.
Detectives arranged for Alexander to talk with
Duncan about the slayings in taped conversations. Duncan, who had no
previous criminal record, was arrested at his home in Federal Way,
Wash., about 20 miles south of Seattle, and returned to Houston,
where Alexander testified against him. Neither Alexander nor Gary
High was implicated in the plot to kill the couple. A prosecutor
said Duncan tried to explain the deaths as mercy killings because of
the victims' failing health.
National Coalition to Abolish
the Death Penalty
Richard Duncan (TX) - December 3, 2003
The state of Texas is scheduled to execute
Richard Duncan, a white man, December 3 for the 1987 murders of John
and Ruth High in Harris County. Because both deaths were originally
thought to be accidental, the house was not maintained as a crime
scene. No forensic evidence was offered at trial that tied Duncan to
the murders, and crucial mitigating evidence, including an affidavit
from the victims’ son, was also suppressed. No suspects had been
suggested until Texas police received an anonymous phone call, later
determined to be from Robert Alexander, accusing Mr. Duncan of the
Highs’ deaths.
The son of the victims, Gary High, had been in a
relationship with Mr. Duncan for over twenty years. At some point, a
third man, Robert Alexander, became roommates with High and Duncan;
Mr. Alexander also shared in a computer business with them, Hitech
Microsystems.
The murder cases of John and Ruth High went
unsolved until Mr. Alexander, in August 1993, placed an anonymous
call to the Houston Police Department. The police discovered Roberts
Alexander’s identity and granted him immunity. The police then
arranged for Mr. Alexander to tape telephone conversations between
himself and Duncan, who was at this point residing in Seattle,
Washington.
Duncan made incriminating statements in his
conversations with Alexander; following the issue of a warrant,
Duncan was arrested in Seattle. After his arrest, Duncan made a tape
statement in which he described the Highs’ deaths as “mercy killings.”
He stated that Ruth High had complained to him about John High’s
deteriorating heath and had asked Duncan to arrange for she and John
High to be killed.
Duncan has argued in appeals that Mr. Alexander,
the chief prosecutorial witness, had offered false testimony and
that the State had knowledge that his testimony was untrue. In
appeals, Duncan has also argued that an affidavit submitted by Gary
High would have nullified Alexander’s testimony. However, the state
court rejected High’s affidavit. Essentially, Duncan believes that
the State could not make a determination of credibility from a paper
hearing. If an evidentiary hearing was to have been conducted,
High’s affidavit may have saved Duncan from a death penalty sentence.
Please contact Governor Perry and request a
commutation of Richard Duncan’s sentence and a moratorium on
executions in Texas.
Gay Man Executed For Killing Lover's Parents
365Gay.com
December 4, 2003
(Huntsville, Texas) Richard Charles Duncan was
put to death Wednesday night by lethal injection for the slayings of
the parents of his lover more than 16 years ago.
Testimony at his
trial showed Duncan hoped to share the $500,000 life insurance of
John High, 71, and High's 73-year-old wife, Ruth, to save the
failing computer business he and Gay High ran.
Authorities initially believed the elderly couple
was asphyxiated by gas, but autopsy results showed they were
murdered. John High had been beaten and was found on the kitchen
floor. His wife was smothered, probably with a pillow, and her body
was arranged in her bed to make it look like she died reading a book.
Their killer turned on a portable gas stove and locked the door
behind him as he left.
The case went unsolved for more than six years
until a man went to police saying Duncan had told him he committed
the murders. The man, Robert John Alexander, met Duncan in a gay bar
in Houston and later lived with Duncan and Gary High. One night,
Alexander told police, Duncan began talking about the murder. “’I
did it. I did it. They’re gone,”’ Alexander told authorities,
repeating the words he said Duncan told him. “’Ruth and John.
They’re at peace.”’
Homicide investigators arranged with Alexander to
wear a wire tap and engage Duncan and High in another conversation
about the killing. It was the tape that led to Duncan's arrest.
Police say High was not implicated in the plot to kill his parents.
Duncan maintained his innocence throughout his
trial.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to
review Duncan's case. He was put to death Wednesday evening in the
Texas death chamber at Huntsville. He declined a final statement,
but on seeing relatives said: "Now that I see my family here and
everything, all I want to say is I love you all so much. I'm
innocent and you know that.''
