death row

Stories 81 - 100 | << Prev   Next >>

Man Who Tortured Family for 8 Hours Put to Death

David Neal Cox killed his estranged wife and sexually assaulted her daughter

(Newser) - A man who pleaded guilty to killing his estranged wife and sexually assaulting her young daughter as her mother lay dying was put to death Wednesday evening, becoming the first inmate executed in Mississippi in nine years. David Neal Cox, 50, abandoned all appeals and filed court papers calling himself...

Sister Prejean: Let Inmate Have Final Human Touch

John Henry Ramirez deserves to have pastor present at Texas execution, she writes

(Newser) - Sister Helen Prejean, the Catholic nun made famous by the book and movie Dead Man Walking, is making a public appeal on behalf of a death row inmate in Texas. In a New York Times essay, Prejean argues that the state should grant the request of John Henry Ramirez that...

Japan Inmates Sue to End 'Extremely Inhumane' Practice

They want to be told in advance of their execution dates

(Newser) - Every morning, in many cases for decades, condemned inmates in Japan wake up not knowing whether or not they will be hanged that day. Death row inmates are usually only notified of their execution a few hours in advance, but two of them are now challenging the practice in court,...

Judge Balks at Retrial for Death Row's Rodney Reed

More than 20 witnesses implicated another man in 1996 murder in Texas

(Newser) - Update: A Texas judge says a death row inmate backed by celebrities including Kim Kardashian West and Rihanna should not receive a new trial. The judge in Bastrop County said Rodney Reed—sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of a young woman—"has not proven by clear and...

At Oklahoma Execution, a Rare Occurrence

John Marion Grant vomited, convulsed as he was being put to death

(Newser) - Oklahoma administered the death penalty Thursday on a man who convulsed and vomited as he was executed for the 1998 slaying of a prison cafeteria worker, ending a six-year execution moratorium brought on by concerns over its execution methods, the AP reports. John Marion Grant, 60, who was strapped to...

2 Oklahoma Death Row Inmates Get Reprieve

Federal appeals court granted stays of execution Wednesday

(Newser) - A federal appeals court granted stays of execution on Wednesday for two Oklahoma inmates who were scheduled to receive lethal injections in the coming weeks, the AP reports. A three-member panel of the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals issued the stays for death row inmates John Marion Grant, who...

Alabama Execution Cancelled at Last Minute
After a Brief Reprieve,
Alabama Inmate Executed
UPDATED
Oct 22, 2021 1:40 AM CDT

After a Brief Reprieve, Alabama Inmate Executed

Willie B. Smith III was convicted of killing Sharma Ruth Johnson

(Newser) - Update: An Alabama man who avoided execution in February was put to death Thursday for the 1991 killing of a woman who was abducted during a robbery and then shot in a cemetery. Willie B. Smith III, 52, received a lethal injection at a prison in southwest Alabama, the AP...

Death Row Inmate Suing for a Final Touch Gets Reprieve

Supreme Court blocks John Henry Ramirez's execution

(Newser) - A Texas death row inmate won a reprieve Wednesday evening from execution for killing a convenience store worker during a 2004 robbery that garnered $1.25 after claiming the state was violating his religious freedom by not letting his pastor lay hands on him at the time of his lethal...

He Has Eaten 3 Last Meals, Is Fighting to Avoid No. 4

'Rolling Stone' looks at the case of Richard Glossip in Oklahoma

(Newser) - How close has Richard Glossip come to execution? He has eaten the same "last meal" three different times, writes Brenna Ehrlich at Rolling Stone . For the record: fish and chips, a Baconator sandwich from Wendy's, pizza, and a strawberry shake. Each time, Glossip has won a late stay...

This Death Row Inmate Is Suing for a Final Touch

John Henry Ramirez wants his pastor to lay hands on him at the moment of death

(Newser) - John Henry Ramirez is set to die on Wednesday, and one federal lawsuit filed in August in his case has nothing to do with stopping the execution. Rather, the 37-year-old Texan is seeking to have his pastor lay his hands on him as he is put to death. "It...

After Wave of 13 Federal Executions, a Halt

Department of Justice reviewing policies

(Newser) - After the Trump administration restarted federal executions following a 17-year hiatus, Donald Trump oversaw 13 executions —more than any US president since the 1800s, Reuters reports. (Those executions also included the first woman put to death by the federal government in almost seven decades.) On Thursday, US Attorney...

Inmate's Last Words: 'I Truly Regret Killing My Family'

Texas executes John Hummel, who killed wife, daughter, and father-in-law

(Newser) - A Texas inmate was executed Wednesday evening for an attack that killed his pregnant wife, 5-year-old daughter, and father-in-law more than a decade ago. John Hummel received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the December 2009 killings, per the AP . Authorities say Hummel stabbed his wife,...

Longest Serving Death Row Inmate Is Resentenced

Raymond Riles is now serving a life sentence

(Newser) - Raymond Riles has been on death row for more than 45 years—longer than anyone else in the US. But no longer: On Wednesday, the 71-year-old Texas man was resentenced to life in prison, CBS DFW reports. Riles, who shot and killed used car dealer John Thomas Henry at a...

South Carolina Judge Won't Block 2 Controversial Executions

They're scheduled for June 18 and June 25

(Newser) - A South Carolina judge on Tuesday refused to block two executions set for later this month as she considers a lawsuit over the state’s new capital punishment law, which effectively forces condemned prisoners to choose to die by either the electric chair or firing squad. State Circuit Judge Jocelyn...

Arizona&#39;s Gas Chamber &#39;Ready&#39; for Inmates
Arizona Readies
Its Gas Chamber
Jun 2, 2021 7:26 AM CDT

Arizona Readies Its Gas Chamber

State has also procured ingredients for lethal gas used by Nazis at Auschwitz

(Newser) - Arizona officials are procuring ingredients for the lethal gas used at Nazi extermination camps, including Auschwitz, in the hope of using it on death row inmates. Arizona's Department of Corrections has spent more than $2,000 on ingredients to make the lethal hydrogen cyanide gas and has also refurbished...

California to Review Infamous Murder Case

Death row inmate Kevin Cooper has long maintained in his innocence in 1983 slayings of 4 people

(Newser) - A wish has been granted to death row inmate Kevin Cooper, a Black man convicted of quadruple murders in 1983. California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Friday calling for an independent investigation into the stabbing deaths of Doug and Peggy Ryen, their 10-year-old daughter Jessica, and 11-year-old neighbor...

Brothers Who Were on Death Row Awarded $75M

Henry McCollum, Leon Brown were wrongfully convicted in 1983 rape and murder of girl

(Newser) - A jury in a North Carolina federal civil rights case has awarded $75 million to two Black, intellectually disabled half brothers who spent decades behind bars after being wrongfully convicted in the 1983 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl. The eight-person jury on Friday decided Henry McCollum and Leon...

Convicted Killer Wants Firing Squad Considered

Nevada inmate's lawyers say 3-drug combo state wants to use is cruel and unusual

(Newser) - A convicted killer who is fighting a possible June execution date that would make him the first person put to death in Nevada in 15 years is calling for the state to consider the firing squad as an option, a rare method in the United States. Attorneys for Zane Michael...

Serial Killer on Death Row for Murdering Family Dies

Victims of Joseph Edward Duncan, 58, who'd been diagnosed with brain cancer, included 2 boys

(Newser) - A convicted serial killer whose victims included two young boys died Sunday at a hospital in Indiana, authorities said. Joseph Edward Duncan died at the medical center near the United States Penitentiary in Terre Haute, where he was on death row, according to a statement from prosecutors in Riverside County,...

AP: Executioners' Accounts Didn't Sync With What We Saw

It weighs in on the 13 federal executions it witnessed as a member of the media

(Newser) - Executioners who put 13 inmates to death in the last months of the Trump administration likened the process of dying by lethal injection to falling asleep and called gurneys "beds" and final breaths "snores." But those tranquil accounts are at odds with reports by the AP and...

Stories 81 - 100 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser