(CNN) The life of a Texas man who conspired to kill his family in 2003 was spared minutes before he was set to be executed on Thursday. Greg Abbott decided to reduce Thomas Whitaker's sentence to life in prison without parole, the governor said in a statement. It's the first time Abbott spared the life of an inmate on death row and the first time in years that a governor reduced the sentence of a death row inmate. Abbott has allowed 30 executions during his time as Texas governor, his office said. Authorities say Whitaker and another man attacked his family as they returned to their suburban Houston home from dinner.

Source: CNN February 23, 2018 07:07 UTC