The Nation - News from Sept. 11, 1987

Convicted killer Joseph Blaine Starvaggi was executed by injection in Huntsville, Tex., for shooting a probation officer to death during a 1976 burglary while the victim begged for mercy. Appeals on Starvaggi’s behalf had been rejected by three federal courts. He was the 26th person executed in Texas and the 92nd put to death in the nation since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. During Starvaggi’s trial, the victim’s daughter testified that her father begged for mercy after he was shot once, saying: “I beg of you, don’t do this.”