Posted on 07/20/2006 8:57:14 PM PDT by SmithL
Jarratt, Va. (AP) --
A man convicted of raping and murdering a 23-year-old woman was executed Thursday, becoming the first person in the United States to die in the electric chair in more than two years.
Meanwhile, a child sex offender was executed in Texas for abducting and killing a 5-year-old girl.
In Virginia, Brandon Hedrick, 27, was pronounced dead at the Greensville Correctional Center at 9:12 p.m. after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his appeals and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine denied his request for clemency.
"I pray for the people that are unsaved," Hedrick said in his final words. "I'm ready to go and be free."
Hedrick chose the electric chair because he was apparently unnerved by the prospect of lethal injection. Virginia inmates have the option of choosing to die by injection or electrocution. Three other Virginia inmates have opted for the electric chair over injection since the state began giving inmates the choice in 1995.
Last week, several guards showed up at Hedrick's cell late at night to present him with a form on which he was told to choose his execution method, Hedrick's attorney Robert Lee said.
The guards "begin talking about lethal injection — talking about being strapped down to the table, being made to wait long periods of time, the difficulty sometimes in finding a vein," Lee said. "That information coupled with general frustration produced this result."
Lethal injection was adopted by many states in recent decades after it was portrayed as more humane than other methods of execution. But defense attorneys in recent months have argued around the country that the combination of drugs can in some cases cause excruciating pain. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that death row inmates can challenge lethal injection as a civil rights issue.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Can we bring out some of our best ZOT graphics?
Well, Brandon, for your sake, I hope you repented and made your peace and you're up there with Jesus and the good thief...because the alternative doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun.
Do you have any more?
Texas is Ole Sparky.
Electric chair don't kill people... Republican AGs with electric chairs kill people. =^D
Hopefully he first suffered great agony in addition to the terror of the electric chair. A "dry sponge" a la "The Green Mile" would have been a nice touch for this subhuman monster.
AWWWWWWW!!! Of course being sodomized and strangled to death isn't painful at all!
LOL ! BYE BYE......
Great news! Thanks for posting.
Yo Homes, we just takin out the trash.....
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