United States of America

BROXTON
Eugene Alvin

Active in 1991 in Houston, Texas

DID YOU KNOW...

Stupid Fact

In the middle of his killing spree, Broxton was arrested for stealing a radio, fined and released.

Amazing Fact

Gary Leon Andrews survived being gutted and shot in the mouth

About Time Fact

In June 2000, the Supreme Court ruled it was "fundamentally unfair" to use racist stereotypes to obtain death penalty sentences

THE DISPATCH

The Beginning

Eugene Alvin Broxton was born in Louisiana on February 27, 1955.

His Early Crimes

Broxton's First Arrest

Broxton was arrested for the November armed robbery of a clothing store. Just 18 at the time, police found him 9 minutes later in a telephone booth at a nearby service station on Highway 171 South. Only 9 minutes had passed since the employees at the clothing store had been robbed.

He had stolen less than $70 cash and a leather jacket worth $150.

His bond was set at $25,000. On August 1, 1977, Broxton would apply for, but not receive, clemency.

Broxton Sentenced for Attempted Murder

On June 3, 1986, Broxton was again in Harris County prison. This time he was sentenced to 13 years for aggravated robbery and attempt to commit murder. He shot at police while fleeing a crime scene. He was paroled on October 10, 1990.

In April 1991, Broxton began his killing crime spree.

The Murders

Gary Wayne Stuckwisch

On April 6, 1991, a foul odour led police to the body of Gary Wayne Stuckwisch. Stuckwisch was found in his northeast Houston apartment. He had been robbed and stabbed several times in the chest. He was dead. His stolen car was recovered the next day. Broxton’s fingerprints were found in the car and the apartment.

Stuckwisch was 46 years old.

Gordon John Miller

Gordon John Miller was a TV Guide magazine sales representative who was abducted by Broxton near the location of Stuckwisch’s car. It was April 19, just two weeks after Stuckwisch was killed.

Witnesses told police Miller, 59, was in the area of Federal Road and Interstate 10 when they saw a man stabbed Miller multiple times. He was left to die from the 11 stab wounds. Broxton took Miller’s truck and used his credit cards. The truck was never recovered.

Elbert Madden

Elbert Madden fared much better than Broxton’s first two robbery victims. Although assaulted on April 24, Madden survived the attack. He was the only survivor not subjected to an aggravated assault. He was threatened with a knife and beaten with the electrical cord, which would be brought up in court as an example of Broxton’s pointless cruelty.

Madden was the only person Broxton did not kill or attempt to kill. Broxton was later convicted of aggravated robbery.

Broxton Arrested and Released

On May 2, Broxton was arrested for stealing a $20 radio from Walmart. Although he was on parole and it should have been revoked, it wasn’t. It was considered a minor offense, and the jails were already over capacity. Broxton was not a murder suspect at the time.

It is the responsibility of the parole officer to revoke parole, but police could not immediately determine who his parole officer was. He was fined and released.

Albert Krigger

Albert Krigger, a disabled 64-year-old man, was found murdered in his home on May 6, 1991. The one-legged retiree was stabbed to death during a robbery by Broxton. Broxton later pawned Krigger’s diamond ring.

Police would attribute his death to Broxton in court, but never charge him with Krigger’s death.

Grady Leon Andrews

On May 10, 4 days after the murder of Krigger and less than 2 weeks after his close call with police, Broxton struck again.

65-year-old Grady Leon Andrews was abducted at gunpoint from a Walmart parking lot. It was the same in East Houston Walmart Broxton had stolen the radio from. Andrews was waiting to pick up his wife and son.

Andrews was kidnapped and forced to drive to a remote location on Penn Road. He was robbed and shot in the mouth. Broxton then tried to gut him, but a witness interrupted the attack.

Broxton shot at passerby John Cherry who had driven past the abduction. Cherry was not hurt. Andrews survived. He was 65 years old at the time of the attack.

Wayne & Sheila Dockens*

Broxton was not finished with his murderous crime spree.

Six days after the attack on Andrews, at around midnight, Broxton went to the Channelview motel room of Wayne and Sheila Dockens. Posing as a hotel employee, Broxton got into their motel room and attacked the couple.

They were bound, gagged, pistol-whipped and both were shot and left them for dead. Wayne, 23, survived the assault with the bullet from the .44-caliber Magnum revolver lodged in his neck. Sheila, 20, died May 16 from shots to the arms and chest. The Louisiana couple had been married for 3 months.

Wayne testified against Broxton at the trial. Sheila Dockens’s murder was the only one Broxton would go on trial for.

Arrest, Trial & Appeals

Broxton Arrested

Eugene Alvin Broxton was arrested by Houston police on May 18, 1991. A week later, he was charged with killing three people and trying to kill two others during his 7-week crime spree. Houston police Sgt. Ken Williamson told the press “I would class him as one of the most dangerous men I’ve come into contact with.”

All 5 cases were capital offenses (eligible for the death penalty) because robbery was involved, and Broxton was held without bail.

Broxton, who was 36 at the time of his arrest, was still on parole for attempted murder. Police zeroed in on Broxton after finding his fingerprints at the scene of Stuckwisch’s murder, and in his stolen car.

Only the murder of Sheila Dockens would go to trial.

Broxton Found Guilty

During the trial, a psychologist for the prosecution told the jury they should take his race into consideration when deciding whether to recommend death. That would later be a problem.

Broxton was found guilty by the Harris County Jury. He was guilty of the robbery and murder of Sheila Dockens after a string of robberies to support his drug habit. Wayne Dockens had testified at the trial, telling the jury both he and his wife had been shot. He survived the bullet to the head. His wife did not live through being shot in the arms and chest.

The jury deliberated less than 2 hours before finding him guilty. After a 3-day penalty phase, they sentenced Broxton to death.

By 1994, Texas authorities were still considering prosecution for the murders of Stuckwisch and Miller. Eventually they choose not to proceed. He would not be tried for the remaining murders and attempted murders, as he had already been given a death sentence.

Broxton made numerous appeals through the years.

Broxton's Failed Appeals

One of Broxton’s first appeals was that he not be tried for any other murders. His defense was that since the murders were brought up during the Dockens case, any prosecution should not be allowed under the theory of double-jeopardy. The state’s highest appeals court disagreed, and in 1994, ruled Broxton could be prosecuted. He has not yet faced any other murder charges.

Under Texas law, every death sentence merits an automatic appeal – that does not mean the verdict is appealed, only the sentence. Because Broxton might win an appeal, it was important for prosecutors to be able to proceed with other murder charges. This will keep the killer in jail.

Broxton appealed his death sentence. He claimed a sentence of 15 years was enough to age him out of his criminality. He suggested that by age 52 he would no longer rob and kill people. On October 4, 1995, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Broxton’s murder conviction. His death sentence was upheld again on October 27, 1999.

Broxton Wins Appeal

In June 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that it was “fundamentally unfair for the prosecution to use racial and ethnic stereotypes in order to obtain a death penalty.” Broxton’s case was affected by this ruling.

On September 9, 2000, Federal Judge Vanessa Gilmore ruled that the Harris County prosecutor had improperly allowed a psychologist to testify at Broxton’s trial. The prison psychologist told the jury that a defendant’s race should be a factor in deciding the punishment of a conviction. The Supreme Court had ruled that it is wrong to use overt racism to influence a death sentence. Broxton was among at least 5 convicted murderers who had new sentencing hearings ordered.

Broxton Sentenced to Death, Again

Eugene Alvin Broxton was sentenced for the second time to death for the robbery and murder of Sheila Dockens. A new set of jurors took four hours to decide his fate.

Broxton’s Location

Eugene Alvin Broxton has been on death row in Texas since September 18, 1992.

SIMILAR SERIAL KILLERS

Rodrigo Hernandez

Hernandez was also killing people in Texas during the 1990s

Betty Jo Green

Athens, Alabama serial killer Betty Jo Green was the same height as Broxton

William Patrick Fyfe

Canadian serial killer William Patrick Fyfe was born on the same day

THE STATS

Days between parole and 1st murder

100

Value of stolen radio

Shortest # of days between murders

Eugene Alvin Broxton in a Historical Timeline

Statistical table for Eugene Alvin Broxton

Killer Name	Broxton, Eugene Alvin
Gender	M
Suspected Only	Yes
Arrest Date	May 18, 1991
Conviction Date	April 30, 1992
Sentence	Death
Birth Location	Louisiana, USA
Birth Date	February 27, 1955
Status	Alive or Unknown
Height	173
Job Types	mechanic
Killer Type	Criminal Enterprise (drugs/robbery), Spree, Territorial
Drug Abuse	yes
comment1	Some news reports indicate Broxton shot at Pasadena police Sgt. Walt Hays and his partner in Pasadena, California during an armed robbery in 1986. Broxton is alleged to have been on parole from that crime in 1991 when he was arrested (May 2, 1991) for stealing a radio. Although we can confirm that Sgt. Walter Hays worked in Pasadena around that time, we can locate no news reports of the robbery, or attempted shooting.
comment2	During trial, evidence was introduced that he killed Gary Stuchwisch 1991, Gordon Miller 1991 and Albert Krigger 1991
Total Dead Victims	4
Victims (Suspected)	3
Victims (Convicted)	1
Victims (Misc)	4 survivors
Victim Gender	Various
Victim Race	White
Victim Age	20-64
Victim Type	Stranger
Binding	Yes
Previous Crimes	carrying a concealed weapon, robbery,
Previous Prison Time	yes, released after 4 years after trying to kill 2 cops
Prison Name	Harris County Jail, Polunsky
Parole/Release	Paroled October, 1990, then began killing people during robberies

Killer Rating

 3/5

RESOURCES

*The Dockens are the only victims for whom we can locate a photograph