1961 - 1997
Summary
Name:
Robert Wallace West Jr.Years Active:
1982Birth:
December 12, 1961Status:
ExecutedClass:
MurdererVictims:
1Method:
StrangulationDeath:
July 29, 1997Nationality:
USA1961 - 1997
Summary: Murderer
Name:
Robert Wallace West Jr.Status:
ExecutedVictims:
1Method:
StrangulationNationality:
USABirth:
December 12, 1961Death:
July 29, 1997Years Active:
1982“I would like to apologize for all of the pain and suffering I put you all through. I hope this will give you closure now and later on down the line.”
— Robert Wallace West Jr.
Robert West Jr. was born on December 12, 1961. He grew up in Harris County, Texas. Little is known about his early childhood and family background, but it is noted that he faced challenges and difficulties during his youth.
West graduated from high school or obtained a GED. As a teenager, he began to experience problems with alcohol and drugs. At the age of fifteen, after the death of his grandfather, he was placed in various juvenile facilities. Throughout these years, he had some issues with the law, which would later follow him into adulthood.
By the time West was in his twenties, he was living with a male companion and staying in motels in the Houston area. He had begun to establish a reputation for getting into trouble, including arrests related to theft and violent behavior. West's early life was marked by a series of tumultuous events that contributed to his later actions.
On August 24, 1982, Robert West Jr. killed 22-year-old Deanna Klaus, a waitress living in a daily-rate motel in Harris County, Texas. West believed that Klaus had played a role in the death of a friend. On that day, he broke into Klaus's motel room.
Once inside, West bound Klaus and assaulted her, using a wooden club to beat her. He was aggressive and violent during the attack, which culminated in strangling her. After the murder, West left the room, and witnesses observed him covered in blood as he exited. The scene within the motel room was chaotic, with blood present and signs of a struggle apparent.
The police arrived shortly after the crime and arrested West at his motel room later in the morning of August 24. He confessed to the murder, detailing how he had broken into Klaus's room, assaulted her, and ultimately took her life.
West was charged with capital murder. His trial highlighted details of the crime, including the brutal nature of the attack and the circumstances leading up to it. He was eventually convicted and sentenced to death.
Following years of legal appeals, Robert West Jr. was executed by lethal injection in Texas on July 29, 1997. Before his execution, West expressed remorse, offering an apology for the pain he caused. Nonetheless, the victim’s family found little solace in his words.
