HOUSTON – He was a convicted cop killer who became the oldest person ever executed in Texas.
Carl Wayne Buntion ended up on death row for murdering Houston police officer James Irby in 1990. But his path to notoriety started years earlier.
Ultimately, his story exposed significant flaws in the criminal justice system that would spark a reckoning across Texas.
Carl Wayne Buntion already had a criminal record when he shot officer in the head and back, but he’d been released from prison early due to overcrowding.
He served just 13 months of a 15-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl.
Former US Marshal for the Southern District of Texas, Gary Blankenship, and Andy Kahn, with Crime Stoppers of Houston, reflect on Officer Irby’s life and impact on this city.
Plus, they share how this case would ultimately change how sentencing is handled for violent felons in the state of Texas.
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