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The Texas Tribune
The Texas Tribune
National
Jolie McCullough

Texas tries again to prove that Scott Panetti is just sane enough to be executed

The Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, also known as the "Walls Unit,” near downtown Huntsville, on Aug. 16, 2022.
The Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, also known as the Walls Unit, home of the state’s execution chamber. (Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune)

The state of Texas admits Scott Panetti is severely mentally ill, repeatedly diagnosed with schizophrenia and paranoid delusions over four decades, before and after he murdered his in-laws in 1992.

Prosecutors accept that Panetti thinks a device was implanted in his tooth during a prison dental procedure to either spy on him or broadcast thoughts into his brain. They concede that he falsely believes U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett visited him on death row. And they acknowledge that he is sure he killed Joe and Amanda Alvarado 30 years ago only after an evil spirit named Sarge Ironhorse took over his body.

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