HOUSTON – His unbelievable crime shocked Sugar Land and the country nine years ago. Bart Whitaker, 23, orchestrated the brutal ambush murder of his entire family. Now, in his first Houston interview from death row, he talked about his eventual execution day.
"Obviously, everyone back here (on death row) has plenty of time to think about their lives," said Whitaker.
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When Whitaker went to dinner with his family on Dec. 10, 2003, he knew in just minutes that his entire family would be walking into a bullet-filled nightmare. When they got back to their Sugar Land home, a masked shooter gunned down Bart Whitaker's brother, Kevin, his mom, Tricia, and wounded his father, Kent. Bart Whitaker was shot in the arm, but detectives soon figured out he'd orchestrated the murders because of hate.
Now on death row for the crime, Whitaker said he does not spend much time thinking about his execution day, but he's not ignoring it.
"I don't worry about it because I don't expect it to happen, I do expect it to happen," said Whitaker. "It's just not something I concern myself with on a daily basis. I'm comfortable with all of that."
What Whitaker said he's not comfortable with is the situation left for his father. Kent Whitaker has forgiven his son. He pleaded for jurors to spare Bart Whitaker's life. However, one day Kent Whitaker will likely see his only surviving son be put to death because of the heinous act of the crime.
"Yes, we've talked about it," Bart Whitaker said. "I'm not sure what the state of Texas thinks it's getting out of all of this. It's sort of like, I feel like I'm going to revictimize (sic) my father again. I don't know what to do about that. I understand there is a time when victims want an execution for closure, but this wasn't the case."
So far, there's no date set for Bart Whitaker's execution. His criminal case still has one final federal appeal pending.