According to a statement issued by the Mexican government last week, Derbez argued that "mentally incapable people should not be subjected to capital punishment."
Resendiz’ aunt Agustina Solis told AFP by telephone from Puebla, Mexico, that her nephew’s execution was "unfortunate" since he could have been tried in Mexico where there is no death penalty.
However, she added, "had he been pardoned he would have stayed forever behind bars and far away from his family." Solis also said she hoped US prison authorities would grant her nephew’s wish that his organs be donated.
Resendiz, who committed most of his murders in the late 1990s, drifted around the country by freight train and carried out most of his crimes near railway tracks.
He used rocks and other heavy objects to bludgeon his victims to death, mainly in their homes, and then stole their money. Some of his female victims were raped.
The crimes that caused the most public outcry included the 1998 and 1999 killings of medical student Claudia Benton and church pastor Norman Sirnic in Texas.
