Texas governor issues last-minute reprieve for son who ordered family killed

Two death row inmates have won last minute reprieves, including a man whose father pleaded for his life even though his son had hired a hitman to kill his family, officials say. Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued the rare reprieve for Thomas Bartlett "Bart" Whitaker, 38, who had been sentenced to die Thursday for a 2003 murder-for-hire that took his mother and brother's life and left his father seriously wounded. "Mr Whitaker must spend the remainder of his life behind bars as punishment for this heinous crime," Abbott wrote in a proclamation explaining his decision, shortly before the scheduled execution.

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