HOUSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has refused to stop next week's scheduled execution of a former Army recruiter convicted in the rape-slaying of a woman in Fort Worth more than 10 years ago.
Cleve Foster is set to die Tuesday in Huntsville for the death of a 30-year-old Sudanese woman known as Mary Pal. Her body was found in a Tarrant County ditch. She'd been shot in the head.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday rejected appeals to delay the punishment. Foster's lawyers contended he's innocent and had poor legal help at his trial and in earlier appeals. They say they'll now go to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has stopped his execution three previous times.
A second man condemned for the slaying died of cancer in 2010.
