Andre Thomas Eats His Remaining Eyeball on Death Row

Criminals often do crazy things for no good reason, or to show that they are insane and cannot stand trial. Andre Thomas, despite displaying a very clear case of insanity, was a criminal who still was ruled fit to stand trial. The Texas man was ruled competent for a trial in 2004 despite plucking out his own right eye. Now, Thomas is on death row, but that could change after he was found blind, and after he claimed that he ate the only good eye he had left.

According to the Associated Press, Andre Thomas was found blind and bleeding on December 9. Thomas was on death row at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. After he was taken out to get treated, the now blind Thomas said that he had taken out his left eye, and actually eaten it.

Thomas had previously pulled a stunt like taking out his eye before. In 2004, before he was to stand trial, Thomas took out his right eye as well. There was no word on if he ate that eye as well.

However, a judge ruled that Thomas was mentally fit to stand trial. Thomas was on trial in the first place for an even more crazier and sadistic act.

In March 2004, Thomas was arrested for stabbing his ex-wife Laura Christine Boren, their four-year-old son Andre Lee, and her 13-month-old daughter Leyha Marie Hughes.

After committing the acts, Thomas went to a police department and told cops how he had killed the three people, cut out their hearts and threw them out in a plastic bag. Police later found the victims with gaping holes in their chests.

From the start, Thomas' attorneys had argued that he was mentally incompetent, but he was still sentenced to death. However, with Thomas now making himself blind, it may be harder to uphold the death sentence.

If Thomas is officially labeled as mentally ill, it will add to the efforts to get his death sentence overturned. Groups like Murder Victims Families For Human Rights, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, have long argued against using the death penalty on the mentally ill. But the state of Texas have executed the likes of Thomas before, despite these groups' efforts.

The groups have a report on the issue planned for June, with Thomas perhaps now a prime candidate to be mentioned in it.

Thomas was transferred to a prison psychiatric facility southwest of Houston. He still has no set date for his execution.

Sources

Associated Press- "Texas death row inmate pulls out eye, eats it" www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j0fVMonu6MwPMLtKD84Niboxh6xQD95K2TL00

Dallas Morning News- "CRIME Blog: Texas death row inmate in psych facility after eating his eyeball" crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/01/texas-death-row-inmate-plucks.html