Richard Aaron Cobb, 29, was executed by lethal injection inHuntsville, Texas on 25 April 2013 for the murder of a man in thecourse of abduction, rape, and robbery.
On 2 September 2002, Cobb, then 18, and Beunka Adams, 19, enteredBDJ's convenience store in Rusk in east Texas. Cobb was carrying a12-gauge shotgun. Both men were wearing masks. Candace Driver, 23, andNikki Dement1, 19, were working in the store. The only other personthere was Kenneth Vandever, a 24-year-old mentally impaired man whofrequented the store as a customer, sometimes helping clean and takingout trash. Adams ordered Driver and Dement to stand behind the cashregister and open it. Cobb held the shotgun while Adams grabbed thecash register drawer and took all of the money. The robbers didn'tspot Vandever, who was sitting in the eating area, until he stood andbegan to walk out the front door. They stopped him and ordered him tostand with the women.
The robbers then decided to take the three victims as hostages. Adamsdemanded the keys to a Cadillac parked in front of the store. Driver,who had borrowed the car to drive to work, retrieved the keys from theback room. Adams then ordered the three into the Cadillac with Cobband himself. Adams drove south on US Highway 69. As they were driving,Dement, who had gone to school with Adams, said, "I know you, don'tI?" Adams answered "Yes" and removed his mask. At some point, Adamsturned off the road and drove the vehicle into a pea patch near Alto.
The group exited the car. With Cobb holding the shotgun, Adams orderedDriver and Vandever into the trunk. He then led Dement away from thecar and raped her. He then came back to the car with Dement, releasedDriver and Vandever from the trunk, and told the victims that he andCobb were waiting for Adams' friends to arrive. He allowed the victimsto begin walking away.
A few moments later, Adams reconsidered, saying that he was afraid thevictims would reach a house before he and Cobb could get away. He andCobb made the three victims kneel on the ground. They tied the women'shands behind their backs using their shirts. They left Vandeverunrestrained and began walking away with him, intending to let himcome back later to untie the women. They soon returned, however, andstood behind the victims for several minutes and had a discussion.Adams then returned to the victims and ordered Vandever, who had stoodback up, to kneel behind the women. Driver later testified thatVandever said that "it was time for him to take his medicine, and hewas ready to go home."
Suddenly, Cobb fired the shotgun. Adams asked, "Did we get anybody?"Driver answered, "No." Cobb shot again. Vandever cried out, "They shotme." A third shot struck Dement in the left shoulder. When Dement fellforward, Driver did too, pretending to be hit. Adams, now carrying theshotgun, approached Driver and asked if she was bleeding. Driver didnot answer, pretending to be dead. Adams then said, "Are you bleeding?You better answer me. I'll shoot you in the face if you don't answerme." Driver answered, "No, no, I'm not bleeding." Adams then fired theshotgun next to her face. The pellets hit her lip. She again pretendedto be dead.
Adams and Cobb then turned to Dement and asked her the same questions.Dement also feigned death as both men kicked her for about a minute.She was lifted by her ponytail while one of the men shined a lighteron her face to see if she was still alive. She continued to feigndeath. Cobb said, "She's dead. Let's go." The men then left and wentto Adams' cousin's house.
After Adams and Cobb left, Candace Driver, who sustained only minorinjuries, ran to a nearby house. Nikki Dement was taken to a hospitalvia helicopter with injuries including a broken shoulder blade, brokenribs, and collapsed lung. When police arrived at the pea patch,Kenneth Vandever was dead from a shotgun wound to his chest.
Driver identified Adams from a photo lineup. Adams' cousin contactedpolice and gave them the pair's whereabouts. Adams and Cobb werearrested the day after the murder. Cobb confessed to shootingVandever. Adams confessed to raping Dement and ultimately admitted toshooting Driver. Each accused the other of shooting Dement, and thesurviving witnesses could not tell which of them did.
Adams and Cobb had participated in two other aggravated robberiestogether in August 2002. Both were gas station robberies where the menalso used a shotgun. Cobb also had a prior conviction for burglary.
At his trial, Cobb testified that he shot Vandever and handed theshotgun to Adams, who shot the women. He testified that Adamspressured him into committing the murder, threatening to kill him ifhe refused. Under cross examination, he admitted that he did notmention any coercion by Adams when he confessed at the time of hisarrest. Furthermore, while Dement and Driver's testimony did depictAdams as the leader who did most of the talking during the crime, theydid not corroborate Cobb's testimony that Adams threatened him.
William Thomsen, who was incarcerated with Cobb at the Cherokee CountyJail, testified that Cobb confided in him that he planned to testifythat Adams had threatened to kill him if he did not take part inshooting the hostages. Thomsen further testified that Cobb told him hewas mad when he learned that the women survived, because if they haddied, he probably wouldn't be in jail. Thomsen said Cobb said he gotsomething like a rush when he shot Vandever. At this point duringThomsen's testimony, Cobb stood in the courtroom and said, "You lyingson of a bitch, I never said no such thing." After the judgereprimanded Cobb outside of the jury's presence, Thomsen continued histestimony. He stated that Cobb said he would commit the crime againand that armed robberies were "the way to go. It's fast, quick easymoney." He said Cobb told him he and Adams had planned to rob aWhataburger restaurant had they not been arrested.
1Nikki Ansley at the time of the offense. By the time of the trial, she had married and taken the name Nikki Dement. All officialdocuments relating to the case refer to her by her married name.
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