Anthony Allen Shore, 55, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the Walls Unit in Huntsville today for the four murders he committed between 1986 and 1995 after losing his last appeal last week.
Shore lost his last-chance appeal a week before his execution date. He claimed unrealized brain damage left him so impaired, he was not morally responsible for his crimes. Shore’s lawyers argued that the extent of his brain damage makes the execution unconstitutional, comparing it to executing an intellectually disabled prisoner.
“He should be killed,” Shore’s youngest sister said.
Dubbed the “Tourniquet Killer,” Shore was convicted of capital murder in 2004 after he confessed to brutally murdering four young women in the Houston area along I-45. His four victims were tortured, raped and strangled with homemade tourniquets.
According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Shore has five victims.
On September 26, 1986, Shore kidnapped 15-year-old Laurie Lee Tremblay and strangled her to death with a cord. He then dumped the victim’s body behind a Ninfa’s Restaurant.
21-year-old Maria del Carmen Estrada was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and strangled to death with a cord on April 16, 1992. Her body was dumped behind a Dairy Queen.
Shore entered the home of 14-year-old Selma Janske, then bound and sexually assaulted her on October 19, 1993. She escaped, running away from Shore.
Diana Rebollar, 9, was killed August 7, 1995. She was beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled. She was found the next day on a loading dock behind a building.
On July 6, 1995, Shore kidnapped 16-year-old Dana Sanchez and sexually assaulted her causing her death.
Before authorities knew who the killer was, Shore anonymously called a Houston news station with directions to Sanchez’s body. He told the station a serial killer was on the loose.
Police were convinced that the anonymous tip came from the killer himself.
The murders went unsolved until DNA evidence linked him to the sexual assault of his daughters. Eventually, Shore’s DNA was then linked to evidence from the murders. When brought in for questioning, Shore confessed to the killing spree.
“His crimes were predatory, and his victims the most vulnerable in society, women, and children. For his brutal acts the death penalty is appropriate,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a news release.
The family fears a last-minute batch of confessions before his execution.
“I know in my heart without a doubt that there are more,” another sister of Shore said.
Even though the family has their doubts, Houston police and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office both confirmed Shore is not considered a suspect in any open cases.
Anthony Shore is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m.
