Carl Henry Sings the Execution Blues

Carl Henry Blue, executed by the state of Texas tonight, was definitely a colorful character. In 1994, Blue went to the apartment of an ex-girlfriend to get back at her for breaking up with him. High on crack and malt liquor, Blue stopped at a convenience store first and filled a “Big Gulp” cup with fifty cents worth of gasoline. When his ex-girlfriend opened the door to her apartment, Blue saw red and threw the gasoline on her, then ignited her in a fit of rage. He then noticed another man in the apartment and, green with envy, threw the rest of the gasoline on him. The ex-girlfriend died from her injuries while the man survived.

After the crime, Blue turned yellow. “She caught on fire, he caught on fire, and I took off running,” he told police. “I was scared, man.” Blue later told a little white lie by saying that he threw the gasoline on the two people as a practical joke, and didn’t mean for either one of them to get hurt.

Since Texas no longer allows inmates to order a special last meal, Blue was served the same food as the other prisoners in his unit. The daily menu included chicken patties and barbecued beef.