Southwest
Texas death row inmate mouths final 2-word message to victims' families before execution
A remorseful death row inmate pleaded for forgiveness and mouthed one final message before being put to death in Texas on Thursday, 20 years after he killed his strip club manager and another man.
Richard Lee Tabler, 46, also admitted to killing two teenage dancers at the club and said he had found God during his two decades in prison.
“I had no right to take your loved ones from you, and I ask and pray, hope and pray, that one day you find it in your hearts to forgive me for those actions,” Tabler said strapped to the death chamber gurney, looking at relatives of his victims who watched through a window a few feet away. “No amount of my apologies will ever return them to you.”
Richard Lee Tabler seen in a photograph.
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He told the victims’ family members that there wasn’t a day that went by in which he didn’t regret his actions and thanked prison officials for their compassion and show that he could “change and become a better man and rehabilitate.”
After apologizing several more times, Tabler said that it was the beginning of a new life for him in heaven.
He told the warden at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, “I am finished,” and as the drugs began pouring into his body he mouthed once again, “I’m sorry.”
Tabler then began breathing quickly. After about a dozen breaths, all movement stopped.
Tabler shot and killed Mohammed-Amine Rahmouni, 28, and Haitham Zayed, 25, in a remote area near Killeen in Central Texas on Thanksgiving 2004 after luring them there on the false pretense of buying stolen stereo equipment.
Rahmouni was the co-owner of a club called TeaZers and the two had fallen out.
Investigators said Rahmouni allegedly said he could have Tabler’s family “wiped out” for $10.
The Huntsville Unit prison in Huntsville, Texas, (Francois Picard/AFP via Getty Images)
Two days later, Tabler shot and killed an 18-year-old dancer at the club, Tiffany Loraine Dotson, who he said he had been seeing, along with another dancer, 16-year-old Amanda Benefield.
Tabler was convicted of killing the two men and sentenced to death, so prosecutors didn’t need to pursue the conviction for the young women’s murders, Paul McWilliams, who prosecuted Tabler nearly two decades ago, told USA Today.
“The murder of the men was as cold-blooded as it could be,” McWilliams said. “The killing of the girls was just senseless. There was absolutely no reason for that.”
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Dotson’s father, George, was among the witnesses. He declined to comment on Tabler’s apologies, saying he needed time to process what he had just seen but was glad to have seen it.
“I couldn’t wait,” he said. “It took me 20 years to get here.”
“Today is for Tiffany,” said her godfather, Tom Newton. “And this is justice.”
In 2008, Tabler prompted a massive lockdown at the 150,000-inmate prison when he smuggled a cellphone into the facility and began making death-threat phone calls to then-state Sen. John Whitmire, who is now the mayor of Houston. (Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
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During the sentencing phase of his trial, prosecutors introduced Tabler’s written and videotaped statements saying he killed Dotson and Benefield because he was worried they would tell people he had killed the men.
Tabler had asked several times for courts to stop his appeals and let him be executed. His lawyers questioned whether he was mentally competent.
In 2008, he prompted a massive lockdown throughout the state’s 150,000-inmate prison system when he smuggled a cellphone into the state penitentiary in Huntsville and began making death-threat phone calls to then-state Sen. John Whitmire, who is now the mayor of Houston.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
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