Bio

Raymond James Jones was born in 1960 in the United States. Jones dropped out of school after completing the eighth grade. Before committing the offense that ultimately sent him to death row, he had already accumulated a criminal record involving violent theft. He was convicted of robbing a convenience store and received a 10-year prison sentence. After serving approximately two and a half years, he was released on parole in September 1985. At the time of the 1988 murder, Jones remained under parole supervision.

During later appeals, Jones argued that he suffered from intellectual limitations that affected his decision-making abilities. Psychological evidence presented by the defense suggested that he functioned within the borderline range of intelligence. A defense psychologist estimated his IQ between 73 and 77, while previous testing placed his verbal IQ at 77, performance IQ at 85, and full-scale IQ at 80. Courts ultimately determined that this evidence did not establish intellectual disability under the legal standards applicable at the time and found no sufficient connection between his intellectual functioning and the commission of the crime.

Murder Story

On the evening of June 17, 1988, Raymond James Jones attended a domino game at the home of his uncle in Port Arthur, Jefferson County, Texas. Among those present was Su Van Dang, a 51-year-old Vietnamese immigrant described by prosecutors as a quiet and hardworking man. After the gathering ended, Jones accompanied Dang back to Dang's residence.

According to Jones' later written confessions, once inside the house he noticed a large portable stereo system in the living room and decided he wanted to steal it. Jones later admitted that because Dang knew him personally, he believed he would have to kill him in order to avoid identification.

Jones concealed himself inside the house and waited until Dang returned from another room. He then launched a sudden attack, stabbing Dang in the chest and back while telling him that he was going to die. When Dang attempted to recover, Jones searched the kitchen for larger weapons and continued the assault using kitchen knives. He later armed himself with a meat cleaver and a lug wrench.

Despite suffering severe injuries, Dang remained alive and pleaded to take a bath. Jones later stated that he viewed this request as the victim's "last wish." Dang managed to escape from the house and reached the area near the curb while calling for help. Jones chased after him, dragged him back into the house, and resumed the attack.

Jones struck Dang repeatedly with the meat cleaver, dragged him into the bathroom, removed his clothing, and attempted to drown him in the bathtub. After struggling unsuccessfully to hold Dang underwater for approximately half an hour, Jones pulled him from the tub and attacked him again.

While Dang remained alive, Jones searched the house for money and valuables. Finding little cash, he tied Dang using an electrical cord removed from a lamp. He struck him with the lug wrench and locked him inside a bedroom closet. Jones later reopened the closet after hearing Dang making noises and speaking Vietnamese. Seeing a container of kerosene nearby, Jones poured the fuel over Dang and around the closet floor before setting the area on fire. He then gathered the portable stereo and other items before leaving the house.

The following morning, on June 18, 1988, police discovered Dang's soot-covered body inside the burned closet. The autopsy documented four stab wounds to the chest and back, along with eight blunt-force injuries to the head. Investigators also determined that Dang had been subjected to attempted drowning before his death.

Because Jones had been among the last people seen with Dang, investigators questioned him shortly afterward. When officers asked whether he knew why he had been arrested, Jones reportedly replied, "Some Vietnamese, huh?" before stating, "Yeah, I did it." He directed police to his sister's home, where they recovered Dang's stolen stereo. Jones later signed two written confessions describing the attack in detail. Investigators also recovered Jones' fingerprint from Dang's bathroom.

Jones was charged with capital murder committed during the course of a robbery. During his appeals, he claimed that he acted in self-defense while resisting a homosexual advance by Dang and argued that the theft occurred only after the killing. Courts rejected these arguments, noting that Jones' own confessions repeatedly established that the desire to steal the stereo motivated the attack from the beginning.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and death sentence in 1992. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari in 1993. Jones subsequently pursued federal habeas relief, raising numerous claims involving jury instructions, alleged intellectual disability, ineffective assistance of counsel, voluntariness of his confessions, and jury selection procedures. On March 29, 1999, revised April 12, 1999, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the denial of relief.

After all appeals were exhausted, Raymond James Jones was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas, on September 1, 1999.