Intellectually disabled Houston man executed in Texas for 1997 murder of jogger with shoelace

A man with reported intellectual disabilities, represented by his legal team as such, has been put to death for the attack and murder of a female jogger in Texas nearly 30 years ago.

Arthur Lee Burton , aged 54, was found guilty of the 1997 murder of Nancy Adleman.

The 48-year-old mum of three suffered an assault and was strangled with her own shoelace while jogging in Houston during July of 1997.

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It's reported that Burton admitted to killing Adleman, mentioning "she asked me why was I doing it and that I didn't have to do it." However, he took back his statement during the trial.

He received a conviction in 1998, but an appeals court overturned his death sentence in 2000. He was handed a second death sentence after a new trial for sentencing in 2002.

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Burton passed away via lethal injection this past Wednesday night.

His solicitors reached out to the US Supreme Court in a bid to halt his execution, noting that specialist assessments indicated Burton had "significant limitations in intellectual functioning."

They pointed out that Burton scored "significantly below" the expected level in standardized educational tests and experienced difficulty with everyday activities, including cooking and housekeeping.

Citing urgent necessity, Burton's solicitors highlighted, "This court's intervention is urgently needed to prevent the imminent execution of Mr. Burton, who the unrebutted evidence strongly indicates is intellectually disabled and therefore categorically exempt from the death penalty,".

Back in 2002, the highest court in America ruled that executing people with intellectual disabilities was unconstitutional, yet states were granted leeway in deciding how to define those disabilities.

Prosecutors have noted that Burton made allegations of an intellectual disability merely eight days prior to his planned execution.

A specialist from the Harris County District Attorney's Office pointed out that Burton's abilities in writing and reading "fall generally at or higher than the average US citizen, which is inconsistent with" an intellectual disability.

The daughter of the victim, Sarah Adleman, informed ABC13 that her family intends to be present at the execution.

Thus far, Burton marks the third prisoner to be executed in Texas this year, and overall, the 11th in the United States.

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