Anthony Allen Shore, age 55, is scheduled to die on October 18. Maria T. Jackson, Criminal District Court Judge, Harris, TX, set the date for his execution on Thursday. Shore has been dubbed the “Tourniquet Killer.” Between the 1980s and the 1990s, Houston’s Hispanic females were strangled with handmade tourniquets.

For almost two decades, gruesome murders he committed went unsolved. Shore’s unraveling happened when he sexually assaulted two girls, who were his relatives. He was arrested. For sexually assaulting his two relatives, he accepted a plea bargain arrangement that entailed giving up DNA and being placed on probation.

DNA collected, tested provided path to solving serial murder cold cases

That DNA collected and tested provided a much-needed break in solving the cold cases. He was 41-years-old when he was arrested in 2003 and eventually confessed to having committed the following murders:

  • 1986, Laurie Tremblay, 14-years-old
  • 1992, Maria del Carmen Estrada, 21-years-old
  • August 1994, Diana Rebollar, 9-years-old, and
  • July 1995, Dana Sanchez, 16-years-old

One victim survived serial murderer following assault

The strength of the DNA test results tying him to the killing of Estrada led to prosecutors take him to trial on the merits of the compelling DNA evidence. He was tried and convicted of capital murder in the state’s case against him.

It was the only murder committed by Shore that prosecutors sought and saw a capital murder charge decided against him. He was sentenced to death by a jury on October 21, 2004.

In addition to the assaults against two relatives and the serial murders, Shore additionally sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl who survived the attack.

According to court records, Shore wore ill-fitting or loose clothing, sunglasses, and surgical gloves. He masked his face with a bandana. Though he used duct tape binding her hands and also wrapping her head, investigators said escaped.

It was two years later, August 1994, when Shore kidnapped Rebollar not even a block away from her house.

Houston victim advocate, Andy Kahan stated that there is a reason for having the death penalty in Texas. He said Shore is a “poster child for why,” according to the Houston Chronicle.

Killer appeals to U.S. Supreme Court on basis of 'brain damage'

Shore’s attorney, K. Knox Nunnally, said there is an appeal, it is his killer client’s “last chance” plea before the United States Supreme Court. Though he believes that there is the strength to his client’s argument, he also acknowledged that the “odds” are not favorable to Shore.

The appeal is premised on a traumatic brain injury, according to Nunnally, who asserts his client’s brain damage was sustained before Shore targeted and murdered Hispanic females.

He further stated that the injury might have altered the killer’s ability to distinguish between “right or wrong.”

Kim Ogg is currently the Harris County District Attorney. Once Shore’s execution date was scheduled she described him as a “true” serial killer who deserves capital punishment. She said he was predatory, his acts were brutal, and the execution is “appropriate.”