LIVINGSTON - Henry Skinner is a small man with a crooked nose, acid tongue and keen mind. Convicted of fatally pummeling his lover with an ax handle and stabbing her adult sons in a 1993 New Year's Eve Texas Panhandle rampage, he has used his 17 years on death row to assail Texas' criminal justice system as \"cunning and deceptive.\" <\/p>\n
In a case that has become an international anti-death penalty cause clbre, Skinner since 2001 has battled to obtain DNA testing of items he believes will clear him of the Pampa killings of Twila Busby and her sons, Randy and Elwin. <\/p>\n
Skinner's campaign for more testing twice has prompted courts to stay his scheduled executions. His quest has been complicated by his first lawyer's decision to abandon DNA testing after examination of clothing worn by Skinner on the night of the killings revealed traces of the victims' blood. <\/p>\n
Despite prosecutor-sanctioned testing of a few items in 2000 and a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that opened a new avenue to such testing, rape kit specimens, knives, fingernail scrapings and an apparently bloodstained windbreaker found near Busby's body still have not been examined. <\/p>\n
All that changed last month when the Texas Attorney General's Office dropped its opposition to testing and, in tandem with Skinner's lawyers, compiled a list of more than 40 items for high-tech examination. <\/p>\n
The items are to be turned over to Texas Department of Public Safety lab technicians on Thursday. <\/p>\n
\"This nightmare is almost over,\" Skinner said in a recent death-row interview. \"I'm looking forward to the day I can leave. I'll either leave with a few boxes under my arm or in a box. I've already spent 18 years in hell.\" <\/p>\n
Key evidence lost <\/p>\n
The state's seeming capitulation appeared a breakthrough for Skinner, who has orchestrated a \"Free Skinner\" campaign through frequent prison cell pronouncements and postings on his website, \"Hell Hole News.\" <\/p>\n
Even as Skinner's lawyers and supporters breathed a sigh of relief, though, it once again appeared the victory may only be partial. State lawyers admit that, after a thorough search, they cannot find the windbreaker, which Skinner attorney Rob Owen called a key piece of evidence. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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