India, Jan. 29 -- A Texas man who had previously escaped custody after being sentenced to death was executed by lethal injection, becoming the first person put to death in the United States this year. Charles Victor Thompson was announced dead at 6:50 pm CST on Wednesday at the Huntsville state penitentiary. Thompson had been convicted of fatally shooting his former girlfriend and her new partner in Houston in 1998.

Charles Victor Thompson was a 55-year-old Texas inmate convicted of murdering his former girlfriend Glenda Hayslip and her partner Darren Cain in 1998. He had previously escaped custody after being resentenced to death in 2005 and became widely known for that daring escape. Thompson spent decades on death row before being exe...