HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Texas death row prisoner Robert “Bob” Fratta spoke out in an interview with a member of the organization Death Penalty Action ahead of his scheduled execution Tuesday.
Fratta, who is set to be executed at 6 p.m. in Huntsville, Texas, is accused of hiring two men to murder his wife, Farah Fratta, in Atascocita in 1994. He has spent more than 25 years on death row.
In an interview Sunday, Fratta told members of the organization that the verdict is an “enlightening experience.”
“I never gave any thought to the death penalty, even though I was a police officer, and now that I’m going through it, I can understand how it’s so ridiculously tormenting for the inmates to be put through this,” Fratta said. “To have you knowing the day and time and everything that you’re gonna die, and it’s prolonged and everything that they put you through beforehand-- this is torturous.”
According to court documents, Bob hired Joseph Andrew Prystash and Howard Paul Guidry to kill his wife. Detectives said Prystash was the go-between and get-away driver and Guidry was the triggerman.
At the time, Robert and Farah were reportedly going through a divorce. Investigators said on Nov. 9, 1994, Farah had just returned to her Atascocita home when she was ambushed in her garage and shot in the head. A neighbor witnessed the shooting and immediately dialed 911, investigators said.
Investigators’ suspicions grew after they learned Bob and Farah were in a custody battle over their three children. Court documents and testimonies allege Bob’s intensifying “sexual appetites” were the reason for the couple’s divorce.
READ MORE: After nearly 3 decades on death row, former Missouri City safety officer faces execution
Bob continued, saying he has a change of mindset toward the death penalty and “can’t believe the government allows this to happen.”
Fratta told the organization he hoped “justice would prevail” ahead of his scheduled execution.
“I do have hope that, you know, something will happen (as far as justice) because you grow up believing that the system isn’t corrupt and that justice should prevail, but the closer things get, I’m starting to get pretty disillusioned about it, to be honest with you,” Fratta said. “But, I guess at my age, I’ll be 66 next month if I make it, but I’m kind of ready to go, so that’s how I’m doing it also... I’m just tired of 27 years of suffering.”
During the interview, Fratta said if he was to be executed, there is “no safeguard” in place to “get claims heard that are meritorious.”
Prystash and Guidry were also convicted of Farah’s murder and sentenced to death, but their execution dates have not been scheduled.