The state's top criminal appeals court has upheld the second death sentence assessed a former Fort Worth-area mechanic for the 1987 murders of a man and a 4-month-old child.
A federal court had overturned the first death sentence given James Eugene Bigby in 1991, saying it violated a Supreme Court ruling that juries should consider mitigating factors.
This time, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Bigby's sentence for shooting Mike Trekell and drowning Trekell's 4-month- old son, Jayson. The two were among four people killed during a seven-hour spree by Bigby in Fort Worth and Arlington.
In another case, the Austin-based appeals court also upheld the conviction and death sentence of a Grayson County man accused of killing his wife, their son and her daughter. Andre Thomas confessed to fatally stabbing all three in their chests in March 2004 and ripping out their hearts. The appeals court ruled Thomas knowingly and intelligently waived his rights.
No execution dates have been set for either.
