execution

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Pope Urges Missouri to Halt Execution

Gov. Mike Parson says he won't spare Ernest Lee Johnson

(Newser) - Lawyers say Ernest Lee Johnson has the intellectual capacity of a child, and Pope Francis is among those urging Missouri to spare the death row inmate—but the state is proceeding with plans to execute him at 6pm Tuesday. Johnson, 61, was sentenced to death for killing three people during...

In Afghan Public Square, a Gruesome Display

Taliban hang dead body from crane in Herat, signaling return to group's ways of the past

(Newser) - The Taliban hanged a dead body from a crane in the main square of Herat city in western Afghanistan, a witness said Saturday, in a gruesome display that signaled a return to some of the Taliban's methods of the past. Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi, who runs a pharmacy on the...

Taliban to Resume Executions, Amputations

Judges, including women, will decide cases instead of clerics, official says

(Newser) - One of the founders of the Taliban and the chief enforcer of its harsh interpretation of Islamic law when they last ruled Afghanistan said the hard-line movement will once again carry out executions and amputations of hands. In an interview in Kabul, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi dismissed outrage over the Taliban'...

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...

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...

Out of Options, Alpaca Owner Vows to &#39;Obstruct&#39; Executioners
A Public Fight to Save
Alpaca Is Over
UPDATED
Aug 31, 2021 9:30 AM CDT

A Public Fight to Save Alpaca Is Over

UK health officials euthanize Geronimo even though Helen Macdonald insisted he was healthy

(Newser) - Update: Geronimo the alpaca is dead. UK health officials euthanized the animal on Tuesday over the objections of its owner and despite a public outcry. The Telegraph reports there were "ugly scenes at the farm" as supporters tussled with the police who arrived to remove him. Our original story...

Alpaca Set for Execution Gets a Human Shield

Male tested positive for bovine tuberculosis; supporters say the tests are flawed

(Newser) - If dogs are man's best friend, alpacas must not be far behind, given that more than 100,000 people are appealing to save an alpaca in England from execution. Geronimo, an 8-year-old who came to Gloucestershire from New Zealand four years ago, tested positive for bovine tuberculosis when his...

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,...

Iran's New Leader Defends Role in Mass Execution

Ebrahim Raisi also says he won't meet Biden

(Newser) - Iran's president-elect said Monday he wouldn't meet with President Biden or negotiate over Tehran's ballistic missile program and its support of regional militias, sticking to a hard-line position following his landslide victory in last week's election, per the AP . On meeting Biden, judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi...

SC's Top Court Blocks 2 Electric Chair Executions

Justices say men should also be offered option of firing squad

(Newser) - The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked two executions that had been set for this month under the state’s recently revised capital punishment law. The high court halted the planned executions of inmates Brad Sigmon and Freddie Owens. The executions had been scheduled less than a month after...

Nevada Plans First Execution in 15 Years

State plans to use 3 or 4 drugs to execute mass shooter Zane Michael Floyd

(Newser) - Nevada prison officials disclosed Thursday that they want to use a never-before-tried combination of drugs for the state’s first lethal injection in 15 years, including the powerful opioid fentanyl, the sedative ketamine, and a heart-stopping salt, potassium chloride. Deputy federal public defenders representing convicted murderer Zane Michael Floyd promised...

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...

Texas Executes Quintin Jones Without Media Witnesses Present

Oversight will never happen again, agency spokesperson says

(Newser) - A Texas man convicted of fatally beating his 83-year-old great aunt more than two decades ago was executed Wednesday evening without media witnesses present because prison agency officials neglected to notify reporters it was time to carry out the punishment, the AP reports. Quintin Jones received the lethal injection at...

Lawmakers Add Firing Squad to Execution Options

South Carolina has run short of lethal injection drugs

(Newser) - The South Carolina House voted Wednesday to add a firing squad to the state's execution methods during a lack of lethal injection drugs—a measure meant to restart executions in a state that once had one of the busiest death chambers in the nation. The bill, approved by a...

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...

South Carolina Senators Want to Bring Back Firing Squads

Bill would make electric chair the default method

(Newser) - Firing squads will make a comeback in South Carolina if a bill being considered by the state's Senate becomes law. Under current South Carolina law, condemned inmates have the choice between lethal injection or the electric chair, and the state can't force them to die by electrocution if...

Pharaoh Who Risked His Life 'to Liberate Egypt' Died Horribly

Study suggests a bound Seqenenre Tao was attacked on all sides

(Newser) - The death of Seqenenre Tao is said to have indirectly led to the reunification of ancient Egypt, which was divided during the pharaoh's lifetime in the 16th century BC. Only now do we know what exactly that death entailed. Researchers studying the mummy of the pharaoh, first discovered in...

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