Stroman was sentenced to death for the shooting death of 49 year-old Vasudev Patel, an Indian immigrant who was working at a Dallas-area convenience store at the time of Stroman's attack. Stroman was also charged in the death of Pakistani immigrant Waqar Hasan, who was shot four days after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. One September 21, 2001 Stroman shot Bhuiyan, a 37-year-old Bangladesh native, leaving him partially blind in his right eye. However, because he had already received the death penalty, Stroman was never tried in the death of Hasan, or in the attempted killing of Bhuiyan.
Although it remains unconfirmed, Stroman claimed that his sister died in the attack on the World Trade Center Towers, driving him to seek revenge against individuals from the Middle East. In the weeks following the 9/11 attacks Stroman shot three men whom he believed to be Arabs. '' I wanted those Arabs to feel the same sense of vulnerability and uncertainty on American soil much like the mindset of chaos and bedlam that they were already accustomed to in their home country,'' wrote Stroman on a website devoted to his case.
Despite the crime against him, Bhuiyan filed a lawsuit in an effort to prevent Stroman's impending execution. However, in the end, he only succeeded in delaying the execution by less than three hours before his lawsuit and request for an injunction were denied. Bhuiyan's attempts to delay the execution were first rejected by an Austin, Texas federal court judge and then the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals banned any intervention from a state judge. Bhuiyan asserts that as a victim, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is required to provide him with the ''right to request victim-offender mediation coordinated by the victim services division. ''Killing him is not the solution. He's learning from his mistake. If he's given a chance, he's able to reach out to others and spread that message to others,'' said Bhuiyan in reference to Stroman.
In another failed attempt to stay Stroman's execution, his lawyer appealed to the US Supreme Court, saying that the inmate's former lawyers failed to present the events of the past which may have led to Stroman's path of violence. Stroman was out on bond when the post-9/11 attacks were initiated. He had prior convictions for burglary, credit card fraud, robbery, and theft as well as a juvenile record for armed robbery. Stroman had been sentenced to prison and paroled twice.
However, as his execution date neared, Stroman asserted that the efforts of Bhuiyan and others had changed him. ''It is definitely an experience that has already molded me into a new person. I've seen so many people worldwide trying to save my life in the last few days and weeks and it's a surreal feeling,'' Stroman wrote on his blog.
In the end, Bhuiyan was not granted the
opportunity to meet with the man who had changed his life forever.
