Brandon Bernard, 40, was executed by lethal injection on December 10, 2020, at the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. He had been convicted for his role in the 1999 robbery, kidnapping, and murders of Todd Bagley, 26, and Stacie Bagley, 28, on Fort Hood, Texas. Bernard was 18 at the time of the crime.

According to the case account, Bernard and four other young men, including Christopher Andre Vialva, forced the Bagleys into the trunk of their car. Vialva shot both victims in the head; Todd Bagley died of the gunshot wound and Stacie Bagley’s listed cause of death was smoke inhalation after Bernard set the car on fire. Bernard was sentenced to death in 2000 and spent over two decades on death row.

The case drew controversy over Bernard’s level of culpability, his status as a minor at the time of the offense, alleged nondisclosure about his low rank in the gang hierarchy, and whether that information could have affected the jury’s decision. Numerous appeals and public campaigns sought clemency in the months before the execution, and some original jurors and public figures urged a stay. The Supreme Court denied a last-minute request and the execution proceeded; Bernard’s last words were an apology to the Bagley family.

If anyone knew Bernard, the other participants, or has information about the events at Fort Hood in 1999, please share what is known.