Berkley Executed; Last Words Were ‘Death Before Dishonor …Let ‘Er Rip’

William Josef Berkley, 31, was executed Thursday for fatally shooting an El Paso high school senior after robbing and sexually assaulting her more than a decade ago.

He died at about 5:18 El Paso time.

Berkley was condemned to death for the March 2000 slaying of 18-year-old Sophia Martinez, whose body was found in the desert outside El Paso after being robbed at a drive-through ATM. She had been shot in the head five times and there was evidence she’d been raped.

Berkley’s witnesses were Samantha M. Gray, his girlfriend; Cori Harbour, a friend and one of his attorneys; and Irene Wilcox, his spiritual advisor.

In his brief statement, Berkley thanked Gray and Harbour and asked them to take care of his “princess” in reference to his 13-year-old daughter. He did not address the Martinez family.

Berkley told Gray and Harbour that it’s all about “death before dishonor.”

He then said, “warden, let ‘er rip.”

Martinez’s family and El Paso District Attorney Jaime Esparza also witnessed the execution.

Berkley became the sixth Texas inmate to receive lethal injection this year in the nation’s busiest death penalty state.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Berkley’s appeal late Thursday. The high court last year refused to review his case. On Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his appeal.

Martinez was robbed after pulling up to a drive-through ATM to withdraw $20 for spending on a Friday night.

A surveillance camera caught the robbery on tape and showed a man prosecutors said was Berkley forcing his way into Martinez’s car. After being forced to withdraw $200 from the ATM, Martinez drove off with Berkley.

Two days later, Martinez’s body was found in the desert about 10 miles away.

Berkley, a self-described marijuana-smoking baggy-jeans-wearing “sarcastic smart ass,” denied involvement in the slaying.

“I’m not sure exactly what happened,” Berkley told The Associated Press recently from a small visiting cage outside death row. “I wasn’t there.”

As an alibi, Berkley said he and a friend, Michael Angelo Jacques, were going to break into a home to steal some cocaine the night Martinez was killed when that plan got sidetracked after Berkley “got picked up by four girls” and went off with them. But Berkley said he didn’t know the women’s last names.

Jacques, accused of planning the robbery and hiding evidence, now is serving life in prison.

But Jaime Esparza, the El Paso district attorney who prosecuted Berkley, said there was plenty of evidence the condemned inmate killed Martinez, including a signed confession where he admitted to shooting the teenager.

“His guilt really was overwhelming,” Esparza said.

The jury was shown a photo from the surveillance camera that prosecutors said was Berkley.

Frank Macias, Berkley’s lawyer at his 2002 trial, said the photo, even though it was “a bad picture,” was “difficult to refute.”

In addition to the photo, prosecutors had DNA evidence showing Berkley had sex with Martinez.

Berkley insisted the sex was consensual because he and Martinez had been friends for several months.

Esparza said there was no evidence indicating Martinez knew him. The victim’s sister, MaryAnn Martinez, called Berkley’s declaration “absolutely ridiculous.”

Berkley, who dropped out of high school in 10th grade, was born in Germany, where his father was posted with the U.S. Army. His family moved to El Paso when he was in the fourth grade.

Berkley said he has dual citizenship with Germany. The German government hasn’t stepped in to intervene in the case.

He is among at least 11 Texas prisoners set to die over the next three months. Scheduled next is Samuel Bustamante, 40, facing execution Tuesday for the fatal stabbing of a 28-year-old man, Rafael Alvarado, during a robbery in Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston.

ABC-7 Reporter Ken Molestina contributed to this report.