10 People Who Were Probably Wrongly Executed

6. Carlos DeLuna

24 year old Wanda Lopez was working nightshift at a gas station in Corpus Christi, Texas when she was stabbed to death in February 1983. Six years later, Carlos DeLuna was executed by lethal injection for her murder despite the fact that there was no DNA evidence linking him to the crime scene (and given the amount of blood found at the crime scene, it is hard to believe that he could have escaped without even a trace of blood on him).

The only evidence the police had was an eyewitness who identified DeLuna as the killer, but only after being told by police that it was him. He was captured 30-40 minutes after the incident took place, hiding underneath a truck. DeLuna claimed that the only reason he was hiding was because he was in violation of his probation by drinking in public. DeLuna claimed his innocence throughout, pointing the blame instead at Carlos Hernandez, who was well known to police and had even been arrested for carrying a switch blade similar to the one used to kill Wanda Lopez.

Prosecutors claimed that Hernandez was a "phantom" and despite efforts to find him, claimed that he did not exist. Two months before DeLuna was executed, Hernandez was sentenced to 10 years in prison after attempting to murder Diana Ybanez. He even bragged to family and friends, but despite all of this, DeLuna was still executed.