Tags: Criminal.
Joseph Paul Jernigan (January 31 1954 – August 5 1993) was a Texas murderer who was executed by lethal injection at 12:31 a.m. In 1981 Jernigan was found guilty of cold-blooded murder and sentenced to death for killing Edward Hale a 75-year-old homeowner who discovered Jernigan and an accomplice as they were burglarizing his home. Jernigan spent 12 years in prison before his final plea for clemency was denied.