Texas Death Row: The Cruel & Calculated Crimes of Suzanne Basso

When asked if she had any final words before her execution, Suzanne Basso simply responded, "No Sir."

Basso, a woman who lied, manipulated, and abused the people who loved her, had nothing to say for herself. Perhaps that's fitting.

It is very unusual for a woman to be executed. When Basso was executed on February 5, 2014, she was the fifth woman executed in Texas since the 1800s, while 505 men had met their death at the hands of the State since the Supreme Court reinstated the legality of the practice.

Originally from New York, Basso and her son, James O'Malley, met Louis "Buddy" Musso at a church carnival in New Jersey in 1998. Basso convinced Musso, who had a mental disability, to move with her and her son into an apartment in San Jacinto, Texas.

Despite his mental handicap, Musso had previously lived alone and handled his financial affairs with the help of Al Becker, his friend, and Social Security representative payee.

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Basso interfered with calls from Becker, and eventually disallowed him to speak to Musso directly, causing Becker grave concern. Becker attempted to get Texas State agencies involved but was unable to get Musso help before the worst happened.

In August 1998, Musso was subjected to a day-long ordeal of torture at the hands of Basso and her accomplices- her son James, Greg Ahrens, Bernice Ahrens, Hope Ahrens, and Terrance Singleton.

Basso had taken out life insurance policies on Musso, including a $65,000 policy in the event Musso should die a violent death. He did, but Basso never got a cent of it. Also found was a dubious Will of Musso, giving everything to Basso.

Musso was beaten with a baseball bat, whipped with a belt, burned with a cigarette, kicked by combat boots- and jumped on by Basso, who was 300+ pounds at the time of the murder. Musso was being bathed in a solution of bleach and Pine-Sol when he finally died.

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His body was dressed in clean clothes, including only one shoe on the wrong foot, before it was dumped at a park. Basso began calling people she knew and the police to report that Musso had run away with, "a Mexican lady."

When police arrived at Basso's apartment, they found ample evidence of a murder- blood on baseball bats, clothing, and sheets. When taken in for questioning, O'Malley confessed immediately and led police to a dumpster with even more physical evidence.

Convicting Basso wasn't difficult, and during the punishment phase of her trial, her daughter testified that Basso abused her and her brother physically and sexually. It was revealed that Basso told elaborate lies about herself. Later, it was revealed that she may have even murdered her first husband, but that has never been proven.

Basso was executed after spending 14 years on Texas Death Row. The needle full of phenobarbitol was much kinder to Basso than she had been to Musso, as she snored several times before falling from sleep into oblivion.