Texas 'Tourniquet Killer' Set To Be Executed For 1992 Murder

Anthony Allen Shore, known as the “Tourniquet Killer” is set to be executed Wednesday night in Texas. Shore was convicted in 2004 of raping and killing 21-year-old Carmen Estrada in 1992.

Shore killed Estrada by twisting a cord from a window blind around her neck before leaving her body in the drive-thru of a Dairy Queen. Estrada’s murder was a cold case until DNA evidence linked Shore to the murder.

Shore through his lawyer asked that the jury find in a manner that convicted him with the possibility of getting the death penalty by determining that there was a level of premeditation.

“Anthony has asked on his behalf that we ask you to answer those questions in such a way that he's sentenced to death,” the lawyer said to the jury at the time. “Anthony still believes ... it is time for him to sacrifice his life for what he has done.”

When Shore was arrested in 2003, he was on probation for a 1998 conviction of sexually assaulting two relatives. During his arrest, he confessed to three other murders but was only convicted of Estrada’s murder.

The first victim Shore confessed to killing was Laurie Lee Tremblay, who was 14 when she was killed in 1986. The second victim was Estrada in 1992. The third victim he confessed to was Diana Rebollar, who was 9 years old when she was sexually assaulted and killed in 1994. The fourth victim he confessed to killing was Dana Sanchez, who was 16 when she was killed in 1995. All victims were strangled.

Shore’s current lawyers have argued that he is mentally ill, should not be killed and that his original lawyer did not put on a robust defense. The courts disagree.

If Shore is killed Wednesday he will be the seventh person the state of Texas has executed this year.