Associated Press Writer

A man convicted of strangling and shooting the wife of a suburban Dallas physician is set to die, closing a chapter in one of the area's most complex and prolonged murder cases.

Former auto insurance appraiser George Anderson Hopper faced lethal injection Tuesday for the 1983 slaying of Rozanne Gailiunas, 33, who was choked with pantyhose and shot twice in the head. The mortally wounded woman _ raped, tissue stuffed down her throat, tied to a four-poster bed _ was found in her Richardson bedroom by her then 4-year-old son. She died two days later.

Hopper, 49, who evidence showed received some $1,500 for the killing, would be the fourth Texas inmate executed this year if his appeals fail.

Defense attorneys argued Hopper's confession was obtained improperly because detectives continued questioning him after he asked to be returned to his jail cell to think about what he wanted to do.

"Any reasonable interpretation of the English language clearly indicated that (Hopper) invoked his constitutional protections," Roy Greenwood said in his petition pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Hopper's initial trial lawyer also offered little help, the appeal contends.

Hopper is the last link in a complicated chain that prosecutors said was initiated by Dallas socialite Joy Aylor. She wanted Gailiunas dead because Gailiunas was dating Aylor's estranged husband, testimony showed.

Gailiunas and her husband, Peter Gailiunas Jr., were separated, as were Aylor and her husband, Larry Aylor, a Dallas home builder. Rozanne Gailiunas planned to marry Larry Aylor, according to testimony.

"Unfortunately, there's not anything that's ever going to undo or be able to repair the heartache and grief that this act has caused so many of us," said Dr. Gailiunas, who has remarried and practices in Dallas. "But nevertheless, to the extent this will at least start that healing process, we'd like to get it over with."

Joy Aylor fled to Canada with $200,000 and her new lover, a Dallas attorney, on the eve of her 1990 murder trial. After the lawyer was arrested in remote western Canada on a drug charge, Joy Aylor disappeared to France.

For two years she assumed a false identity as Elizabeth Sharp, living in a villa outside Nice. She was located after her lover's a rental car was involved in a minor traffic accident.

Joy Aylor was imprisoned for two years while prosecutors negotiated with the French government. After she was returned to Texas, she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1994. Under terms of the extradition, prosecutors agreed to not pursue the death sentence, which is illegal in France.

Hopper, who has been on death row since 1992, and Aylor, imprisoned near Gatesville, declined recent interview requests.

Others related to the case also are in prison.

Buster Matthews was sentenced to life for trying to kill Joy Aylor's husband in a separate 1986 sniper attack financed by Joy Aylor.

Bill Garland, a former pest control contractor, pleaded guilty in 1995 to accepting money from Joy Aylor to arrange that unsuccessful murder attempt. Garland also pleaded guilty and received 30 years in prison for using money from her to hire Hopper.

Brian Lee Kreafle, a former auto mechanic, was sentenced to 30 years after pleading guilty to soliciting capital murder and admitting to transferring instructions and money to Hopper.

Authorities said Joy Aylor contacted Garland about arranging the slaying. Garland hired Kreafle, who hired Hopper.

It was Carole Garland, his wife and Joy Aylor's sister, who tipped police about the plot and helped detectives by recording conversations implicating Joy Aylor.

When Hopper initially was questioned, he fled police during an interview under the guise of needing a drink of water. He was picked up six months later, amid a nationwide manhunt.

"Most crimes happen in a few moments of time," recalled Kevin Chapman, the lead prosecutor in the trials of Hopper and Aylor. "This one _ the crime, the coverup _ spanned five years. I had a notebook with 60 pages of dates, just dates of events, a ton of bank records, phone records, file cabinets full of stuff."

Chapman, now in private business in Austin, said it was remarkable the principles all had jobs and came from good families with solid backgrounds. Joy Aylor, who worked as a decorator, had wealth and social standing.

He said Hopper, married and the father of two daughters, was likable and charismatic.

"I viewed it as a thrill killing," Chapman said. "He stripped her, tried to have sex with her, for $1,500. It was a power thrill deal.

"It should have been a lot different. He should have been a productive member of society."