Bio

Paul Rougeau was born on December 22, 1947. He grew up in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. Paul had one younger brother named Joseph. 

During his schooling, Paul completed up to the 9th grade. After school, he worked as a carpenter, which was a skilled trade. There is no record of him having a criminal background before the events that would later lead to his arrest.

In the late 1970s, Paul, his brother Joseph, and another man named Curtis Gillory frequented a nightclub called the Stock Exchange Lounge in Houston, Texas. This nightclub became the site of a tragic event in their lives. On January 6, 1978, this group attempted to rob the lounge.

The robbery did not go as planned and resulted in serious consequences for Paul and his accomplices. Joseph was killed during the robbery when police arrived on the scene. Paul himself was also wounded but managed to escape initially. He was arrested about 12 hours later. Despite claiming he was innocent and saying he had left when the shooting began, Paul was identified as one of the robbers.

Murder Story

On January 6, 1978, Paul Rougeau, his brother Joseph, and an accomplice entered the Stock Exchange Lounge in southeast Houston to commit a robbery. During the robbery, they encountered Albert Wilkins, a 50-year-old security guard and off-duty deputy constable. Witnesses reported that Rougeau cursed at Wilkins as he pleaded for his life. Rougeau then shot Wilkins in the head with a .38-caliber pistol, resulting in Wilkins' death.

After the shooting, Rougeau, his brother, and their accomplice fled the scene. A gunbattle broke out when police arrived, during which Joseph was killed. Paul managed to escape but was arrested about 12 hours later with a gunshot wound to his buttocks. The accomplice was also arrested and later testified against Rougeau in exchange for a 40-year sentence.

Rougeau's first trial in 1982 ended with a conviction, but it was overturned due to improper jury selection. In a second trial, he was again convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Throughout the legal process, Paul Rougeau maintained his innocence, claiming that the shooting was related to a drug deal involving his brother.

Despite his appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, which argued that he had inadequate legal representation and that Texas' death penalty statutes were unconstitutional, his execution proceeded. On May 3, 1994, Paul Rougeau was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas.