Texas man to die for murder-for-hire scheme

A man is scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday for the murder of his ex-wife's boyfriend. It will be Texas' 15th execution this year.

Luis Ramirez still insists that he did not fatally shoot Nemecio Nandin, 29, in 1998. Nandin had been dating Ramirez's ex-wife. Prosecutors said Ramirez hired a man to help him kill Nandin; the accomplice was sentenced to life in prison. Investigators didn't determine who actually pulled the trigger.

Appeals lawyers asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute his sentence to life in prison. They also were in the courts to try to block the execution.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, in a 5-1 vote, rejected Ramirez's request to commute his sentence to life, and 6-0 against a request for a 120-day reprieve.

He also lost an appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, prompting his lawyers Wednesday to seek a review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Five more Texas inmates are scheduled to die in November, AP reports.

A.M.