Man Executed for Abduction, Murder

A former high school football star who abducted a man from the parking lot of a gay nightclub, then robbed and killed him, was executed in the 21st lethal injection in Texas this year.

Demarco McCullum, 30, was the first of two convicted murderers scheduled for execution this week and the 334th inmate to die since 1982, when the state resumed capital punishment. Texas is the most active U.S. state in administering the death penalty.

McCullum was convicted in the July 30, 1994, death of Michael Burzinski, 29. Two of McCullum’s accomplices received life sentences. The third cooperated with authorities and was sentenced to 15 years.