Texas Seven Leader Gets Death Sentence
Aug. 29, 2001 -- The mastermind behind one of the biggest prison escapes in Texas history asked a jury to sentence him to death today for the Christmas Eve slaying of a police officer, and the jury obliged him just a few hours later.
George Rivas, admitted ringleader of the "Texas Seven" — a group of seven prisoners who escaped a Texas prison and triggered a monthlong manhunt — is the first of the escapees to be tried and sentenced in the Dec. 24 shooting death of police Officer Aubrey Hawkins.
Rivas' attorneys argued that Rivas never intended to kill Hawkins and tried to persuade a Texas jury to give him a life sentence. But on the stand today, Rivas ended his testimony by urging the jury to sentence him to death, saying he no longer wanted to live "like an animal" in prison for the rest of his life.
"What you call the death penalty, I call freedom," Rivas said. "I can finally be free. I'm telling you right now I don't want another life sentence."
At the time of the escape from the state prison system's Connally Unit in Kenedy, Texas, Rivas was serving 18 life sentences for armed robbery and kidnapping stemming from two 1993 robberies in El Paso and a 1989 burglary.
Three armed robberies were blamed on the Texas Seven while they were on the run, including the fatal one at an Irving sporting goods store. Officer Hawkins responded to the scene and was shot 11 times and run over twice by the group's escape vehicle. Rivas claimed he never intended to kill Hawkins but only disarm him.
The escapees, armed with 44 weapons and supplied with stolen winter clothing and $70,000 in cash and checks, made headlines around the country. Authorities caught up with them on Jan. 22, when a SWAT team nabbed Rivas, Joseph Garcia and Michael Rodriguez at a convenience store. Randy Halprin gave up outside the mobile home they were living in, and Larry Harper killed himself. Patrick Murphy and Donald Newbury surrendered two days later at a motel in nearby Colorado Springs.
‘I’ll Be There to Watch You Die’
In a written statement to police, Rivas confessed to Hawkins' killing and asked his widow, Lori Hawkins, for forgiveness. But in statement to her husband's killer after jurors announced his sentence, Lori Hawkins told Rivas she would never forgive him.
"George Rivas, you will never have my forgiveness," she said. "The day you die, I will be there to watch you die like you watched my Aubrey die, except your death will be so much easier than Aubrey's, and I hate you for that."
Jayne Hawkins, the slain officer's mother, told jurors that her grandson is still crying for his father.
"My grandson cries to his mother. He misses his Daddy," she said. "And she tries so hard to find the words to comfort him. On Christmas Eve, my grandson asked his mother to tell Santa Claus to change his list: 'Just bring back my Daddy.'"
Jurors found Rivas guilty of capital murder Aug. 21. Dallas County prosecutors have vowed to seek the death penalty against the other escapees and accept no plea bargains.