crime
52-year-old executed by lethal injection in USA
So far, 23 of the 50 US states have abolished the death penalty (archive image). photo
© Paul_Buck/EPA/dpa
Many states in the USA have the death penalty. Now Missouri has executed a convicted murderer.
A convicted murderer has been executed in the US state of Missouri. The 52-year-old has now been… Killed by lethal injection in Bonne Terre prison, US media reported, citing the responsible authority. The man was sentenced to death for the murder of his cousin and her husband in 2006.
Legal efforts by his lawyers to prevent the execution had failed. Media reported that the man had shown remorse and that many prison officials had even advocated a life sentence.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, five people were executed in the United States this year, up from 25 last year. More than 2,300 death row criminals are currently on death row, some of them for decades. In January, a person sentenced to death was killed for the first time using a new nitrogen method.
During the procedure, a person is supplied with nitrogen through a face mask – the result is death from lack of oxygen. Human rights experts had sounded the alarm. To date, 23 of the 50 states have abolished the death penalty.