THE killer of former Blackburn man David Ward has been executed by lethal injection in Texas - still refusing to show any remorse for the murder.

And Aaron Christopher Foust's death was witnessed by his victim's brother, who travelled from Britain to sit in the public gallery at the Huntsville death chamber in Texas.

Hospital administrator Mr Ward, whose parents Eric and Rita live in Feniscowles, was found strangled at his home in Eastern Hills, Fort Worth, in May 1997. He had been planning to return to England for a month-long holiday when he died.

After watching the execution, his brother, bank manager Michael Ward, said: "There's very little you can say to someone like that who showed no remorse whatsoever.

"He's not alive anymore. He's paid for his actions.

"Aaron Foust can be put to death 10 times but it will not bring David back. He had a choice in all this. My brother didn't.

"It doesn't bother me that Foust's death was painless. The death penalty is not intended to be an instrument of torture. I didn't want to see any suffering. I just wanted to see justice done."

Foust, 26, who was nicknamed Conan because of his similarity to a screen character portrayed by Arnold Schwarznegger, said nothing to his victim's brother before his death at 6.22pm on Wednesday, six minutes after receiving a lethal injection. The killer, who earned a living as a carpenter, welder and drug dealer, told two friends invited to witness the execution: "Adios, amigos. I'll see you all on the other side."

David Ward, 43, left Blackburn in 1976 to work as a nurse in Texas and was working as senior vice president of operations at the state's John Peter Smith Hospital at the time of his death.

He was active in the fight against AIDS and was instrumental in establishing Healing Wings, a public-private partnership that has raised millions of dollars for services to Tarrant County AIDS patients.

Foust said in interviews that he intended to rob Mr Ward and attacked him when he refused to hand over cash and partly because he "just didn't like the guy."

After the slaying, Foust and an accomplice ransacked Mr Ward's apartment and made off with electronics equipment, alcohol, credit cards and cash. Ward's body was found two days later and three days after that, Foust and the second man were arrested after trying to use Ward's credit card at a restaurant. Jamal Brown, 23, was also charged and is awaiting trial. Foust, Death Row inmate No. 999268, awoke at 6 am, took a shower and brushed his teeth, officials said. He was allowed to see his family and friends from 10am until 12:30pm. The final meal he had requested - a cheeseburger, French fries and a soft drink - went uneaten.

Foust's execution, the 10th in Texas this year, came after just 49 weeks on Death Row. Shortly after his arrival in Huntsville, Foust waived all rights to appeal his sentence, paving the way for his execution to become the second swiftest in modern Texas history.

Scott Foster and Mark Malott, who met Foust while volunteering as ministers at the Tarrant County Jail, said they were not surprised that he went to his death with no contrition for his crime. They said his unstable life, marked by alcohol and drug abuse, had made him callous.

"He understood that he should have felt a great sense of remorse, and it bothered him that he did not," said Malott. "But he did not deal with emotions like other people did."

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