Felecia Prechtl, 29
Summary of Offense: Convicted and sentenced to death in the August 2, 1981 rape-murder of Felecia Prechtl.
Chamberlain was a resident of the same apartment complex and had gone to the victim's apartment under the pretense of borrowing sugar. Chamberlain left the apartment and returned minutes later with duct tape and a rifle. Chamberlain entered the apartment, displayed the weapon to the victim, and forced the victim into a bedroom. Chamberlain taped her hands and feet, and sexually assaulted her. Chamberlain took the victim into the bathroom and shot her one time in the head with a .30 caliber rifle, then left.
Police questioned Chamberlain the night of the murder, but he was not arrested until five years later, after a fingerprint search returned his name as a possible match. Police arrested Chamberlain, who gave investigators a written confession. He also directed them to a weapon of the same type used to kill Prechtl, and provided DNA samples that matched the profile of samples taken from Prechtl’s body. A Dallas County jury deliberated just seven minutes before convicting Chamberlain of capital murder for killing Prechtl and took two-and-a-half hours to decide he should be put to death.
Victim: Felecia Prechtl
Time of Death: 6:30 pm
Manner of Execution: Lethal Injection
Final Meal: A variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese, lunch meat, deviled eggs, six fried cheese-stuffed jalapenos, a chef salad with ranch dressing, onion rings, french fries, a cheeseburger, two fried chicken breasts, barbecue pork rolls, an omelet, milk and orange juice
Final Words: Smiling broadly as he looked at Prechtl's relatives watching him through a window, he told them he loved them, repeatedly said he was sorry and thanked them for coming to watch him die. "We are here to honor the life of Felecia Prechtl, a woman I didn't even know, and to celebrate my death," he said in the seconds before he was injected with lethal drugs. "I wish I could die more than once to tell you how sorry I am."
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