John David Battaglia

John David Battaglia (August 2, 1955 – February 1, 2018) was an American convicted murderer executed by the state of Texas.

He was convicted of killing his two young daughters in May 2001.

Background

Battaglia, who once served as a Marine, was an accountant. He had a daughter from a previous marriage. He had committed physical domestic violence against his first wife.

His second ex-wife, Mary Jean Pearle, resided in Highland Park, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. His daughters with her, Faith, age 9 (born on January 9, 1992) and Liberty, age 6 (born on January 17, 1995), were students at John S. Bradfield Elementary School in Highland Park.

At the time Battaglia was on probation for hitting Pearle; she was attempting to get his parole revoked, saying that he was harassing her over the telephone and that he should be placed in jail because of his history with domestic violence. He had not hit either of his daughters.

Crime

On May 2, 2001, Pearle left her daughters with Battaglia for a planned dinner, but he instead took them into his apartment. Battaglia murdered his daughters at his loft apartment in Deep Ellum in Dallas. He called Pearle, and the murders took place during the phone call. During the phone call he asked Faith to ask Pearle, "Why do you want Daddy to go to jail?" Before her death she cried, "No, Daddy, please don't, don't do it." She was shot three times and Liberty five times. He told Pearle "Merry Fucking Christmas". Pearle terminated the call and dialed 9-1-1.

Battaglia then went to a tattoo parlor and got two roses, representing his daughters, on his left biceps. He was arrested shortly afterwards. Police confiscated 16 firearms from the house. Texas authorities stated that Battaglia killed his daughters out of retaliation because Pearle had complained to his probation officer.

Aftermath

Around the 2000s this was one of a spate of domestic homicides related to the Park Cities, Highland Park and University Park, two wealthy enclaves in the metroplex. Stephen Michaud of the Dallas Observer wrote "never in memory have the Park Cities been jolted by such unspeakable, and apparently similar, family homicides as the three most recent killings, all of which occurred in a 25-month cluster."

No, Daddy, Don't!: A Father's Murderous Act of Revenge, a 2003 nonfiction book by Irene Pence, is about the murders.

During the 2002 capital murder trial, in which Howard Blackmon was the lead prosecutor, jurors deliberated for 19 minutes before convicting Battaglia. Battaglia was held at the Polunsky Unit near Livingston, Texas. On April 30, 2002, Battaglia was sentenced to death and he entered death row there the very next day.

On June 7, 2002, just over a month after entering death row, the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy began the process to revoke Battaglia's license as a certified public accountant based upon his conviction; his license was formally revoked on May 15, 2003, just less than a year later.

Battaglia was scheduled to be executed on March 30, 2016, but the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay so the court could examine his attorneys' claims that the man was not mentally competent to be executed. The State of Texas did not challenge this stay, so he was not executed. On August 15, 2016, Battaglia was given an execution date for December 7, 2016. On December 2, 2016, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution for Battaglia due to concerns of his mental competency. The ruling gave attorneys 60 days to argue before the Court of Criminal Appeals.

On September 20, 2017, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed Battaglia's claim of mental incompetence. At a competency hearing in November 2016, a mental health expert testified that Battaglia was likely faking symptoms of mental illness in an attempt to delay his execution. The appeals court affirmed this, stating that Battaglia is likely malingering. A new execution date for Battaglia was set for February 1, 2018. Subsequent appeals failed and Battaglia was executed by lethal injection at 9:40 p.m. CST on February 1, 2018 at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas.