Texas Woman Executed After Luring and Murdering Mentally Impaired Man

Allegedly lured disabled man to Texas to marry her, then murdered him to get his insurance benefits

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Update, 7:40 p.m. ET: Basso was executed Wednesday evening; she was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. CST.

A Texas woman convicted of murdering a mentally impaired man after promising to marry him and taking over his Social Security benefits is set to be executed on Wednesday, which would make her the 14th woman executed since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

Suzanne Basso, 59, was sentenced to death for torturing and killing Louis “Buddy” Musso, a mentally disabled man whose body was found lacerated, beaten, and doused with bleach in a ditch near Houston, the Associated Press reports. According to prosecutors, Basso murdered Musso after luring him to Texas with the promise of marriage, then making herself the beneficiary of his benefits. Unless the Supreme Court steps in, she will be executed by lethal injection Wednesday after a federal appeals court refused to stay the execution on Tuesday.

Prosecutors say Basso had a habit of making up stories about herself. She admitted that she lied about being a triplet, working for the Governor of New York, and having a relationship with Nelson Rockefeller. She also spoke like a little girl in court, claimed she was blind, and said she was paralyzed from a jail beating.

[AP]