Robert himself did not pay much attention to Tabler throughout his early years due to him working long hours, frequent travels, infidelity, and excessive drinking habits.

At the age of 12, Tabler was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and while his mother and sister noted that he was a good-natured person, he often had a quick temper.

[3] During his adulthood, Tabler was found guilty of second-degree burglary, as well as escape and assault of a police officer in California.

On November 26, 2004, at a nightclub in Killeen, 25-year-old Richard Tabler and his accomplice, a 18-year-old Fort Hood soldier Timothy Doan Payne, shot and murdered a strip club manager and another male victim.

[2] On November 26, 2004, also Thanksgiving Day, Tabler contacted Rahmouni, offering to sell him some stereo equipment for $1,500 and arranged to meet up at the parking lot of a local business.

[2] After the murders, Tabler later stole a wallet and a black bag from the car, while Payne would keep the videotape and showed it to a friend before he destroyed it.

Based on the list itself, Tabler chose to target two teenage girls, 16-year-old Amanda Benefield and 18-year-old Tiffany Loraine Dotson, who both worked as dancers at the club.

[7] For the fatal shootings of Zayed and Rahmouni, both Tabler and Payne were charged with two counts of capital murder, an offence that carries the death penalty under Texas state law, on November 30, 2004.

[15] The defence filed a motion to have the death penalty taken off the table for Tabler on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but it was rejected by Judge Martha Trudo of the 264th District Court on January 26, 2007.

Despite his conviction, Tabler's charges of killing Benefield and Dotson were still pending against him, although till this day, a trial has not been set for the Benefield-Dotson double murder.

At one point, Tabler was temporarily moved off death row and transferred to the Jester IV Unit after a suicide attempt in October 2008.

After the end of trial proceedings, Tabler spent the following decade or so appealing against his two death sentences for the Thanksgiving double murder, and during this period, he committed more crimes while in prison.

[48] On October 7, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to allow Tabler's final appeal and therefore confirmed the death penalty in his case.

[49] In October 2008, it was reported that Tabler was caught for having made threatening phone calls to State Senator John Whitmire, claiming that he knew the names of the legislator's daughters and the residential address, and wanted to go after them.

[51][52] After investigations found that Tabler's mother was the one who procured the phone and some air time for the phone calls, a warrant of arrest was issued, and during that same month, Tabler's mother was arrested at an airport in Texas shortly after she arrived to visit her son, and faced charges of smuggling prohibited items into the prison.

A December 2024 report revealed Tabler was one of four condemned inmates from Texas to have their execution dates set between February and April 2025.

[60] On the eve of his scheduled execution, Tabler released a statement through his wife, in which he expressed that he deeply regretted his crimes and was at peace with the impending execution,and he devoted himself to religion and spent his time guiding the inmates in a ministry, write books and draw landscapes.

His counsel emphasised in the petition that Tabler had reformed and he was genuinely remorseful of his actions, and his redemption could continue to spread positive influence if he was spared and placed under a life sentence instead, and he was no longer a danger to society, but a "positive friend, family member and fellow inmate".