By JUAN A. LOZANO and MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) - A white supremacist on death row faces execution in Texas for strangling a woman over fears she would alert police about his drug operation.

Justen Hall is set to receive lethal injection Wednesday evening for the October 2002 killing of 29-year-old Melanie Billhartz.

Prosecutors say the 38-year-old Hall strangled Billhartz with an extension cord from his El Paso drug house and buried her body in the New Mexico desert.

His attorneys had asked to stop the execution, alleging he is not competent. But a judge last month denied the request, and no other appeals have since been filed.

If the execution happens, it would be the 19th in the U.S. and the eighth in Texas this year.

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