http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 738D09.DTL

Execution Delayed for 'Railroad Killer'
-
Thursday, April 20, 2006



(04-20) 10:07 PDT HOUSTON (AP) --

Next month's scheduled execution of a Mexican drifter dubbed the "Railroad Killer" has been delayed to allow more psychiatric testing.

The change from May 10 to June 27 came after attorneys for Angel Maturino Resendiz filed reports from two experts who concluded that he is delusional, schizophrenic and has a brain disorder, Harris County Assistant District Attorney Roe Wilson said Wednesday.

Prosecutors contend that the 45-year-old Mexican citizen is sane and is manipulating the courts.

Maturino Resendiz was condemned for the 1998 murder of Dr. Claudia Benton, 39, who was raped, stabbed and beaten in her Houston-area home. He was linked to 14 slayings in Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Illinois near the rail lines he rode nationwide and has claimed still more killings.

At trial in 2000, Maturino Resendiz asked for the death penalty, and after conviction, pledged to drop all appeals to hasten his execution. He eventually sought appeals, however, which the state Court of Criminal Appeals rejected in March 2004.