Posted on 05/06/2005 11:18:37 AM PDT by Borges
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The killer of two women and a pair of young children was executed by injection early Friday after failed attempts by lawyers to reduce his sentence to life in prison.
Earl Richmond Jr., 43, was pronounced dead at 2:19 a.m. at the state's Central Prison in Raleigh, said Pamela Walker, spokeswoman for the state Corrections Department.
Richmond spent Thursday meeting with family members and his lawyers, Walker said.
One of Richmond's attorneys, Jonathan Broun, said Richmond transformed himself in prison. Richmond had discovered religion and felt sorrow for his victims.
"The old Earl Richmond that did these crimes died many years ago," Broun said after the execution.
Richmond didn't profess his remorse for the crimes during recent appeals because he didn't want it to be seen as a false gesture, Broun said.
"I am a new man, not in the eyes of man, but in the eyes our creator," Richmond said in a handwritten statement distributed after his death. "I am free."
Richmond's legal team had urged the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution because they believed that improper testimony was allowed during his trial.
The court declined to hear the appeal Thursday evening, and Gov. Mike Easley later denied clemency for Richmond, allowing the execution to move forward.
Richmond was sentenced to death by a Cumberland County jury in 1995 for the killings of 27-year-old Helisa Stewart Hayes, her 8-year-old son, Phillip, and her 7-year-old daughter, Darien.
After his arrest in North Carolina, Richmond was charged in the April 5, 1991, slaying of Army Spec. Lisa Ann Nadeau at Fort Dix, N.J. Nadeau, 24, of Plainfield, Conn., was found bound, beaten, stabbed and strangled in her Army base residence.
Richmond is the second person executed in North Carolina this year and the 36th since capital punishment was reinstated in 1977.
It's from a hell scene in the South Park movie.
Religion , not Patriotism is the last resort of the scoundrel.- Tom
Wasn't that Saddam Hussein with Satan?
Yes, but as he is going down you see JFK Jr, George Burns, Gandhi and a few others.
Argh you're right.
Just what are you smoking, anyway?
George Burns??? I guess I never put him and Saddam together. ?:-/
The world is a little better place today.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.