Killer Who Married Widow Is Executed

A man who killed to collect on a life insurance policy, then married the victim’s widow, was executed. Proclaiming his innocence and complaining about the justice system, Martin Vega, 52, died by injection in a Huntsville, Texas, prison facility. Vega killed James Mims, 36, on July 27, 1985, in Luling. Three years later, Vega went to police, confessed to the crime and led investigators to the murder weapon. He said he plotted the murder with Mims’ wife so they could collect $250,000 in life insurance. The two later married. The woman was never charged in the case because police said they could not prove Vega’s allegations. In his last words, Vega also said she was not guilty of the murder.