Updated

It's been nearly 30 years since U.S. Circuit Judge Robert S. Vance died when a mail bomb blew up at his home in suburban Birmingham, Alabama. The state is just now preparing to execute the man convicted in Vance's killing.

The long-delayed resolution to the old crime comes as Texas officials grapple with a deadly three-week bombing spree that ended Wednesday when the suspect blew himself up.

Alabama has set an April 19 execution date for 82-year-old Walter Leroy Moody Jr. He's been on death row since being convicted of capital murder in Vance's death in 1996.

Vance's son Robert Vance Jr. says he feels for the Texas bombing victims.

Prosecutors say Moody targeted Vance out of anger over a court decision.