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Execution Set For Killer Of 93-Year-Old East Texas Woman

TYLER, Texas (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — An East Texas man on death row for the murder of a 93-year-old woman during a robbery at her home has received an execution date.

State District Judge Christi Kennedy signed an order Monday setting 34-year-old Clifton Williams for lethal injection June 21 in Huntsville for the fatal beating and stabbing of Cecilia Schneider at her home in Tyler in July 2005.

Evidence showed Williams entered through a back door, attacked Schneider and then set her body and bed on fire.

He took off with her car and her purse with $40 inside it. Authorities said he wanted money for drugs.

Defense attorneys argued Williams was mentally impaired and ineligible for the death penalty.

Williams came within hours of execution in 2015 when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted his scheduled punishment.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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