Face-to-face with a killer: Death row inmate's strange last words

Coble, 70, was once described by a prosecutor as having 'a heart full of scorpions'. Photo / AP

After nearly 30 years on death row, would triple killer Billie Wayne Coble show any remorse for his heinous crimes?

Days before his execution, Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid came face-to-face with the man who murdered his estranged wife's family.

The August 1989 shooting rocked Texas and destroyed a family, but nearly 30 years on when Reid asked Coble what he thought of the gruesome slayings, his answer sent a chill down listeners' spines.

"To some people it matters," he said. "To me it really no longer matters."

When pushed further on the murders of his wife's parents Robert and Zelda Vicha and their son Bobby, he fell short of an apology.

"Okay, if you want me to give some type of, like, rehearsed apology or something, I mean, I've already said that I regret what happened," was his chilling reply.

"Now I fully regret what happened. But I also truly regret a lot of things in life."

Coble, who never apologised for the killings, was once described by a prosecutor as having "a heart full of scorpions".

Asked if he was scared of dying, Coble responded to Susanna saying: "Death is death.

"A person said one time: 'That's a horrible way of dying'. I said: 'What is a good way?' Could you tell me what a good way is to die?

"Who is not going to leave this world? Aren't we all?

"It depends on how long a person has already lived. The longer you've lived, the easier it is to accept death."

This undated photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Billie Wayne Coble. Photo / AP

Bizarre final words

As he sat waiting for the lethal injection, Coble's final words left witnesses baffled.

Moments before his death, the Vietnam War veteran began talking, saying: "Yes sir, that will be $5. I love you, I love you and I love you.

"Mike, I love you. Where's Nelley at? I love you, that will be $5. Take care."

It is understood the cryptic $5 message was a reference to his time in Vietnam where kids would try and get money off passing soldiers.

Coble soon began gasping before he began snoring and died.

The 70-year-old was convicted of capital murder in 1990 after shooting dead his estranged wife's family.

Prosecutors said Coble, distraught over his pending divorce, kidnapped his wife, Karen Vicha. He was arrested and later freed on bond.

Nine days after the kidnapping, Coble went to Karen Vicha's home, where he handcuffed and tied up her three daughters and J.R. Vicha. He then went to the homes of Robert and Zelda Vicha, 64 and 60 respectively, and Bobby Vicha, 39, who lived nearby, and fatally shot them.

After Karen Vicha returned home, Coble abducted her and drove off, assaulting her and threatening to rape and kill her. He was arrested after crashing in neighbouring Bosque County following a police chase.

Coble was convicted of capital murder in 1990. In 2007, the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new trial on punishment. On retrial in 2008, a second jury sentenced him to death.