In implementation of two men who had been sentenced to the end of their sentences for murders, the authorities in Arizona and Texas proceeded yesterday, Wednesday (11/16).
Murray Hooper, a 76-year-old African-American man, was executed by lethal injection at the Florence Correctional Facility yesterday morning, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced. “For the most heinous crimes, we must never forget the victims or evade justice“, he emphasized as reported by the Athens News Agency.
In the US it is common for many decades to pass before someone sentenced to death is executed. At the end of 2020, nearly a quarter of people on death row in the U.S. were over age 60, according to the Center for Death penalty (DPIC).
According to prosecutors, on December 31, 1980, Hooper and two accomplices broke into a home to commit a robbery and tied up its three occupants before shooting them. A man and his mother-in-law died, while his wife survived and later identified the three assailants.
All three were sentenced to death in 1983, but both died before they could be executed. Hooper still maintained his innocence.
In the neighboring state of Texas, 55-year-old Steven Barbie was executed last night.
He was sentenced to death in 2006 for the murder of his pregnant ex-partner and her 7-year-old son.
He initially pleaded guilty, but quickly recanted and claimed he was coerced into confessing by the police. After his conviction, an intense legal battle had begun and he had managed to have his sentence suspended twice.
His lawyers appealed to the US Supreme Court on Tuesday in a last-ditch effort to keep him from being executed. They complained that the local prison authorities have not set a clear policy regarding the religious rights of the condemned in the execution chamber.
However, the prison authorities responded that they had accepted all of Barbie’s requests and had allowed a priest to hold his hand while he was given the lethal injection.
Barbie became the 15th death row inmate running this year in the US.
Source: News Beast
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
