A Texas inmate put to death for murdering a man over a decade ago, had some interesting final words. Richard Cobb, was executed via lethal injection Thursday (April 25), and called the experience “awesome” right before he died.
Having already confessed to using a 20-gauge shotgun to kill 37-year-old Kenneth Vandever, Cobb must have had a clear conscious about his own demise. Either that, or he’s totally insane.
When asked of his final words, the prisoner tried to be philosophical.”Life is death, death is life. I hope that someday this absurdity that humanity has come to will come to an end,” he said. “Life is too short. I hope anyone that has negative energy towards me will resolve that.
“Life is too short to harbor feelings of hatred and anger. That’s it, warden.”
Oh, but Cobb had more to say. Instead of lying quietly, the 29-year-old started yelling about how great it was to be lethally injected. “Wow!” he exclaimed while the victim’s family witnessed the ordeal. “That is great. That is awesome! Thank you, warden! Thank you (expletive) warden!”
He was pronounced dead 15 minutes later.
Cobb committed the crime when he was 18, and is the second of two men executed for the murder. In September 2002 the high school dropout and accomplice, Beunke Adams, robbed a Texas convenience store taking Vandever, and two female clerks hostage. Adams ordered Vandever–whose mental capacity was damaged by a previous car accident– and one of the woman into a trunk, while the duo r@aped the third victim, Nicki Daniels, also a teen at the time. All three were taken to a field where they were beaten, shot, and left for dead.
Daniels and the other woman were able to get help, and the suspects were arrested a day later.
The bust brought an end to a string of robberies committed by the twosome. At his trial Cobb testified that he had been using drugs since age 12, and turned to a life of crime to feed the habit. He claimed that Adams orchestrated the robbery, assault, and murder, which he participated in “out of fear.”
Adams was put to death last year.
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Photo: HOPD
