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Suzanne Basso executed for murder in Texas

Suzanne Basso died by lethal injection Wednesday evening. The US Supreme Court denied a last-minute stay of execution on behalf of Suzanne Basso.

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Texas Department of Criminal Justice/AP
This handout image provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows capital murder defendant Suzanne Basso. On Wednesday, Feb 5, 2014 Basso, 59, is scheduled to die for for the torture slaying of Louis “Buddy” Musso, a mentally impaired man near Houston more than 15 years ago.
  • By Jon Herskovitz Reuters

| Austin, Texas

Texas executed a woman on Wednesday convicted of leading a plot to kidnap, torture and then beat to death a mentally disabled man to rob him of his cash and collect insurance money.

Suzanne Basso, 59, died at 6:26 p.m. CST (0026 GMT Thursday) by lethal injection at the state's death chamber in Huntsville, making her the 14th woman put to death in the country since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

In that time, about 1,400 men have been executed, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a monitoring agency.

Basso did not make a last statement, the Department of Criminal Justice said.

Lawyers for Basso filed an application with the US Supreme Court seeking a stay, arguing that she is not mentally competent and should not be executed.

The appeal was denied, without comment.

"She is delusional. She has been diagnosed with at least six different disorders over time," said attorney Winston Cochran Jr., who filed the petition.

Basso was convicted for the 1998 death of Louis "Buddy" Musso, 59. Basso lured the New Jersey man to Texas with the promise to marry him.

Basso, with five others, later beat him and killed him for his money and to cash in on an insurance policy where she was named the beneficiary, according to court documents.

The victim was beaten so severely with baseball bats, belts and steel-toed boots that his body was unrecognizable when it was found in a ditch.

After Musso's death, police found an insurance policy that would pay $65,000 as a result of violent crime, according to prosecutors.

Lawyers for Basso have argued there was no evidence that proved she was one of the killers.

The execution is the seventh this year in the United States and the 510th execution in Texas, the most of any state after the reinstatement of the death penalty.

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