A BRIGHTON bank manager looked on as the man who murdered his brother was executed in an American prison.
Michael Ward flew to Texas to see Aaron Christopher Foust given a lethal injection.
As he was about to die, Foust, who had shown no remorse for the murder, turned to Mr Ward in the public gallery and said: "Adios amigo. I'll see you on the other side."
Foust brutally strangled Mr Ward's brother, David, in a row over a £300 debt in Fort Worth, Texas, nearly two years ago.
Together with another man, who is still awaiting trial, they stole his credit cards, cash and BMW car.
The murder of Mr Ward, who worked for a hospital and raised millions of dollars for Aids sufferers, shocked North America and sparked a huge police manhunt.
Foust, together with an accomplice, were caught five days later trying to use one of the stolen credit cards.
While waiting on Death Row, Foust said of his victim: "I didn't like the guy.
"It was his attitude. He had a real arrogant, snobby English kind of attitude.
"Sometimes I wish I feel something but if I was the type of guy to feel remorseful I wouldn't have done this in the first place.
"It takes a good deal of determination to put a man in a chokehold and choke the life out of him. The situation with Mr Ward was just business."
Foust, a 26-year-old welder and carpenter, waived his right to appeal, making it the fastest execution in the state's history and the tenth this year.
Asked if he thought his 5,000-mile trip to Texas was worthwhile, Mr Ward said: "Most definitely. He has paid for his sins."
He added: "I can't complain about the way it's gone in this particular case.
"A lot of people in my position have to wait ten or 12 years.
"Aaron Foust can be put to death ten times but it will not bring David back.
"He had a choice in all this. My brother didn't."
Mr Ward, 43, was a hospital vice-president who was planning a trip to visit his family in Sussex when he was killed.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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