HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The state of Texas is set to execute convicted killer Richard Tabler on Thursday evening.
Tabler, 46, was convicted for the 2004 murders of two men in Killeen and confessed to the killings of two teen girls. His execution will make him the second inmate executed in Texas this year.
Richard Tabler’s Crimes: In 2004, Tabler murdered his former strip club manager, Mohammed-Amine Rahmouni, 28, and another man, Haitham Zayed, 25, in a shooting on Thanksgiving Day. Rahmouni was the manager of TeaZers, a strip club where Tabler had worked before being banned.
Police say Tabler ambushed the men while they were planning to purchase stolen stereo equipment. He shot them both in their car, then pulled Rahmouni out and had a friend film him shooting Rahmouni again. Before his arrest, Tabler taunted law enforcement, calling Bell County deputies to boast about the murders and threatening to kill more strip club employees.
Tabler also confessed to the deaths of two teenage girls who worked at the club, 18-year-old Tiffany Dotson and 16-year-old Amanda Benefield. However, he never faced trial for their murders and later denied killing them.
Threats to John Whitmire: While on death row, Tabler sent death threats to then-state senator John Whitmire using smuggled phones and letters. In 2008, the threats led to a lockdown of over 150,000 inmates in Texas as authorities searched for contraband. Whitmire, who is now the mayor of Houston, received warnings from Tabler about knowing the names of his children and their addresses. Whitmire has declined to comment on Tabler’s upcoming execution.
Tabler’s Execution: Tabler has requested multiple times for his appeals to be dropped and for his execution to proceed, although he has reversed this stance on occasion. Records show he has attempted suicide at least twice. His execution was previously stayed in 2010. In a letter to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2024, Tabler wrote, “Petitioner has spent the last twenty years in the courts and sees no point in wasting this Court’s time, nor anyone else’s.”
Tabler is set to be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
Reactions: Claudia Van Wyk, senior counsel for the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project, expressed sorrow over the execution. “Today, Texas plans to execute a man who spent the last two decades proving his capacity for growth, remorse, and redemption,” she said. “Those who know Richard know that he is not the same person who was sentenced to death. He has transformed into a mentor and source of support for those around him. Richard will be missed by many, both inside and outside of prison, and our thoughts are with his loved ones.”
Other Texas Executions in 2025:
- Steven Nelson was executed earlier this month for the murder of an Arlington church pastor. He was the first inmate executed in Texas in 2025.
- Serial killer David Wood is scheduled for execution on March 13.
- Moises Mendoza, convicted of strangling a 20-year-old in Collin County and setting the body on fire, is set for execution on April 23.
- Matthew Johnson, who set a woman on fire in a gas station in 2012, is scheduled for execution on May 20, 2025.
