Texas death-row inmate Betty Lou Beets, shown here in a 1998 mugshot, was denied a cummutation of sentence and reprieve by the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles on February 22 after a new claim by her supporters that Beets was a physically and emotionally battered wife. Beets, 62, who was charged with the 1983 murder of former Dallas firefighter husband Jimmy Don Beets, is scheduled for execution on February 24 in Huntsville, Texas.

AAL