Bio

Bobby Ray Hopkins was born on February 23, 1967. He was a former bull rider who had previously lived in New Mexico before relocating to the Grandview area of Johnson County, Texas, south of Fort Worth. He had prior convictions for assault, dealing cocaine, shoplifting, driving while intoxicated, and non-payment of child support, and had been in and out of jail on multiple occasions. At the time of the murders, he was 26 years old and on probation for a cocaine-dealing conviction.

Roughly two weeks before the killings, Hopkins had been at the apartment shared by 18-year-old Sandi Marbut and her 19-year-old cousin, Jennifer Weston, at 601-B South First Street in Grandview. During that visit, he got into an argument with Marbut after money went missing from her purse; she accused him of taking it and told him not to come back.

Murder Story

On the evening of July 30, 1993, Marbut and Weston hosted a gathering of friends at their apartment, with somewhere between 30 and 35 people in attendance over the course of the night. Around 4:00 a.m. the next morning, July 31, Marbut drove the last remaining guest home. Sometime between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m., Hopkins entered the apartment. Marbut was in the downstairs living room. Hopkins attacked her, stabbing and cutting her approximately 40 times; evidence of defensive wounds indicated she fought back and was likely conscious for several minutes during the assault. Weston came downstairs during the attack; Hopkins turned on her and began stabbing her at the foot of the stairway. Weston attempted to flee back up the stairs but died on the top landing after being stabbed approximately 66 times. Hopkins himself was cut during the struggle.

After the killings, Hopkins searched the apartment's bedrooms for money, went into the bathroom to wash blood off his body, and used bathroom towels in an attempt to stop his own bleeding before leaving the apartment. Marbut's parents discovered the two young women's bodies later that day; her body was on the living room floor, and Weston's was found at the top of the stairs, with blood throughout the apartment.

Texas Ranger George Turner, investigating at the scene, learned from bystanders about Hopkins's prior argument with Marbut over the missing money and went to question him that same evening. Turner noticed fresh cuts on Hopkins's hands and arms and what appeared to be blood on his boots; Hopkins allowed Turner to take the boots for testing. A nurse who later drew blood from Hopkins also noted fresh scratches on his hands. On August 5, 1993, police discovered two blood-stained towels, belonging to the victims in a culvert along a route between the apartment and Hopkins's home; testing showed the blood was consistent with Hopkins's own. On August 22, 1993, a blood-stained knife was found discarded along the same route, with blood consistent with Hopkins, Marbut, and Weston all present on it. Hopkins was arrested on August 4, 1993.

Hopkins was interviewed on videotape by Captain Tony Knott of the Hobbs, New Mexico Police Department, an officer Hopkins considered a personal friend from his time living in New Mexico. During this interview, Hopkins admitted going to the apartment around 4 or 5 a.m., getting into an argument with Marbut, and stabbing her after she allegedly produced a knife and a struggle ensued; he acknowledged being cut himself and bleeding at the scene. Serology and later DNA testing confirmed his blood was present in numerous locations throughout the apartment, and a bloody boot print recovered from the scene was matched to his boots.

Hopkins was convicted of capital murder in May 1994 and sentenced to death. He unsuccessfully appealed through the state and federal court systems, including a habeas corpus appeal decided in Hopkins v. Cockrell, 325 F.3d 579 (5th Cir. 2003). Throughout his time on death row and up to his execution, Hopkins maintained that Ranger Turner had planted the blood evidence found on his boots, a claim that was never substantiated.

Bobby Ray Hopkins was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas, on February 12, 2004. His execution was delayed approximately two hours while the U.S. Supreme Court considered last-minute appeals seeking DNA retesting and challenging the validity of his recorded confession; the Court ultimately declined to intervene. He declined a last meal and ate nothing beforehand. The lethal injection began at 8:11 p.m., and he was pronounced dead eight minutes later, becoming the 6th person executed in Texas in 2004 and the 319th since the state resumed capital punishment in 1976.