execution

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The People Trying to Halt His Execution Are Unexpected

Among them: the daughter of one of the people Nick Sutton murdered

(Newser) - Death row inmate Nick Sutton has an unusual group of supporters seeking to block his scheduled execution Thursday. Among them are family members of his victims, as well as past and present prison workers calling for clemency. Sutton, 58, was sentenced to death in 1986 for killing fellow inmate Carl...

Executions Are About to Resume in Oklahoma

A 'reliable' drug supplier has been found, says the state

(Newser) - Oklahoma is set to resume executions after a five-year lull prompted by drug mix-ups, but it won't be relying on nitrogen gas . As a 2015 law allowing the state to pursue execution by nitrogen hypoxia only permits the method if lethal injection drugs are unavailable, executions will be carried...

Texas Man Who Killed His Family Apologizes, Is Executed

Abel Ochoa shot dead his wife, 2 daughters, and 2 relatives in 2002

(Newser) - A Dallas man was executed Thursday evening for a shooting in which he killed his wife, two children and two other relatives during a drug-fueled rage nearly 18 years ago. Prosecutors say Abel Ochoa was high on crack cocaine and looking for money to buy more drugs when he started...

DNA Will Prove If State Executed an Innocent Man

Ledell Lee maintained his innocence until he was put to death in 2017

(Newser) - Ledell Lee was executed in Arkansas in 2017 , despite legal challenges requesting more DNA testing using modern technology; the state denied those requests. Lee never stopped insisting he was innocent of the 1993 murder of Debra Reese, and now Slate reports that his case "could result in DNA evidence...

Georgia Man Stays Silent as He's Put to Death

Donnie Cleveland Lance was convicted of killing his ex-wife and her boyfriend in 1997

(Newser) - A Georgia man convicted of killing his ex-wife and her boyfriend more than two decades ago was put to death Wednesday evening, becoming the state's first inmate to be executed this year. Donnie Cleveland Lance, 66, received a lethal injection at the state prison in Jackson. His time of...

In Rare Move, Japan Hangs a Foreigner

Wei Wei was convicted of the 2003 murders of a family of 4

(Newser) - "It was an extremely cold-blooded and cruel case, in which (Wei) killed four innocent members of a happy family," said Japan's justice minister in announcing a rare move: the execution of a foreigner. The AP reports Wei Wei's Thursday death by hanging was the first time...

Texas Executes Man Who Killed Over His Job Assignment

Travis Runnels didn't want to work in shoe factory

(Newser) - A Texas inmate was executed by lethal injection Wednesday evening for killing a supervisor at a state prison shoe factory in Amarillo nearly 17 years ago. Travis Runnels, 46, was convicted of slashing the throat of 38-year-old Stanley Wiley on Jan. 29, 2003. Runnels was executed at the state penitentiary...

State Sends Blind Man to Electric Chair

Tennessee executes Lee Hall for 1991 murder

(Newser) - Lee Hall never saw the chair he would be killed in. The 53-year-old convicted murderer was executed in Tennessee's electric chair Thursday night, making him the second blind man to be executed in the US since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. He was sentenced to die in 1992...

Judge Halts Federal Executions
Judge Halts
Federal Executions
Nov 21, 2019 6:22 AM CST

Judge Halts Federal Executions

4 men were set to be executed in Indiana in December and January

(Newser) - The cases of four men set to be put to death in Indiana over the next couple of months have spurred a nationwide reprieve. On Wednesday, District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan halted those executions, effectively stopping all federal executions across the US, Politico reports. A fifth execution in Indiana set...

Georgia Executes Man After DNA Test Request Rejected

Victim's daughter had 'serious doubts' about guilt

(Newser) - A man convicted of killing a Georgia convenience store clerk 25 years ago was put to death Wednesday night, authorities said. Inmate Ray Jefferson Cromartie, 52, was pronounced dead at 10:59pm after an injection of pentobarbital at the state prison in Jackson. He made no last statement but requested...

Man Nearing Execution by Firing Squad Has Died

Ron Lafferty's murder case was featured in Jon Krakauer's 'Under the Banner of Heaven'

(Newser) - A Utah death-row inmate whose double-murder case was featured in the book Under the Banner of Heaven and who was nearing execution by firing squad has died of natural causes, prison officials said Monday. Ron Lafferty, 78, died at the state prison in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper,...

Celebrities Go to Bat for Man Sentenced to Die

Kim Kardashian West, others ask Texas governor to stop execution of Rodney Reed

(Newser) - Kim Kardashian West has been spending a lot of time fighting for criminal justice reform , and the latest prisoner she's advocating for has a lot of other celebrities on his side, too. Rodney Reed is on death row in Texas after being convicted of the 1996 rape and murder...

Inmate Uses Last Words to Forgive Victim's Family

Donnivan Schaeffer's parents say they weren't expecting an apology anyway

(Newser) - There was no apology given nor remorse shown before Charles Rhines was put to death in South Dakota Monday night for murdering Donnivan Schaeffer in 1992—but with his last words, Rhines did "forgive" Schaeffer's family, the Rapid City Journal reports. "Ed and Peggy Schaeffer, I forgive...

Blood-Filled Tumors Weren't Enough to Stop His Execution

Russell Bucklew executed after Missouri Gov. Mike Parson denies clemency request

(Newser) - Missouri executed Russell Bucklew Tuesday, despite concerns that the 51-year-old inmate's rare medical condition could have resulted in what his attorneys feared would be a gruesome death. Gov. Mike Parson earlier Tuesday denied a clemency request, and the US Supreme Court in April gave the go-ahead for Bucklew to...

Texas Executes Inmate Who Stabbed 2 Stepsons

Robert Sparks also killed wife in 2007 attack

(Newser) - A Texas inmate who claimed he was intellectually disabled was executed Wednesday for fatally stabbing his two stepsons during a 2007 attack in which his wife also died. Robert Sparks received a lethal injection for the slayings of 9-year-old Harold Sublet and 10-year-old Raekwon Agnew in their Dallas home, the...

Right Before His Execution, Words for His Victim's Family

Mark Anthony Soliz, 37, was executed in Texas Tuesday night

(Newser) - A Texas death row inmate was executed Tuesday for fatally shooting a 61-year-old grandmother at her North Texas home nearly a decade ago during an eight-day spate of crimes that included thefts and another killing. Mark Anthony Soliz, 37, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for...

Before His Execution, Texas Inmate Speaks for 4 Minutes

Billy Crutsinger didn't mention victims in final statement

(Newser) - A Texas death row inmate was executed Wednesday for fatally stabbing an 89-year-old woman and her daughter more than 16 years ago after entering their Fort Worth home under the pretense of doing some work for them. Billy Jack Crutsinger, 64, received a lethal injection Wednesday evening at the state...

Florida Executes Serial Killer Who Preyed on Gay Men

Gary Ray Bowles killed at least 6

(Newser) - Gary Ray Bowles, a serial killer who preyed on older gay men during an eight-month spree that left six dead, was executed by lethal injection Thursday at Florida State Prison. The sentence was carried out at 10:58pm, according to the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Bowles received the death...

'Lord Forgive 'Em': Texas Executes Larry Swearingen

Inmate claimed science proved his innocence

(Newser) - Texas inmate Larry Swearingen claimed he was innocent right up until his execution—and even beyond. "Today the state of Texas executed an innocent man," the 48-year-old said in a statement released after he received a lethal injection Wednesday. Swearingen, sentenced to die for the 1998 abduction, rape,...

He's Set to Die Tomorrow, Says Science Proves He's Innocent

Larry Swearingen has long maintained his innocence in the death of Melissa Trotter

(Newser) - Larry Swearingen is scheduled to die in Texas on Wednesday. His bid for clemency was unanimously denied Monday by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, though the 48-year-old is waiting to hear on whether the Supreme Court will stay his execution and have him sidestep death for now. It'...

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