An Arkansas murderer was put to death on Monday and the state's top court and the U. S. Supreme Court denied last-minute appeals from a second killer, clearing the way for Arkansas to become the first U. S. state since 2000 to carry out multiple executions on the same day.
An Arkansas murderer was put to death on Monday and the state's top court and the U.S. Supreme Court denied last-minute appeals from a second killer, clearing the way for Arkansas to become the first U.S. state since 2000 to carry out multiple executions on the same day.
Marcel Williams, 46, was scheduled to die at 8:15 p.m. CDT (0115 GMT on Tuesday) for the 1997 kidnapping, rape and murder of 22-year-old Stacy Errickson.
The first inmate, Jack Jones, 52, was pronounced dead at 7:20 CDT (0020 GMT on Tuesday) at the Cummins Unit prison, about 75 miles (120 km) southeast of the state capital, Little Rock.
Jones was convicted of raping and killing Mary Phillips, 34, in 1995 and trying to murder her 11-year-old daughter. He also was convicted of rape and murder in Florida.
"This evening the rule of law was upheld when the sentence of the jury for Jack Jones was carried out after 20 years of review," said Governor Asa Hutchinson. "The victim's family has waited patiently for justice during that time."
Media witnesses said Jones delivered a lengthy last statement, including an apology to the young girl who he left for dead after murdering her mother. The witnesses said the execution appeared to go smoothly, with no sign that Jones suffered.
Both defendants had filed a flurry of unsuccessful appeals with the U.S. Supreme Court and the Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday afternoon, citing various grounds.
Jones was the second inmate executed in Arkansas since 2005, after the state put Ledell Lee to death last week.
The men were among eight inmates that Arkansas had initially planned to execute in 11 days this month, prompted by the impending expiration date of the state's supplies of midazolam, a sedative used as part of the three-drug protocol.
The drug was used in flawed executions in Oklahoma and Arizona, where witnesses said the inmates writhed in apparent pain on the gurney. No problems were reported in Lee's execution on Thursday.
Both Jones and Williams had argued to the U.S. Supreme Court that their obesity put them at heightened risk of pain due to midazolam. The court rejected those claims without comment.
Four of the planned executions have been put on hold by court order, including two pending the outcome of a case heard on Monday by the Supreme Court.
The court's four liberal justices appeared sympathetic to the argument by Alabama death row inmate James McWilliams that he is entitled to a mental health assessment from an independent medical expert before he can be executed.
Arkansas has scheduled a final execution for April on Thursday.
The compressed schedule generated a wave of criticism and legal challenges, including a lawsuit from the company that distributes one of the drugs. McKesson Medical-Surgical Inc, a unit of McKesson Corp <MCK.N>, said the state obtained its supplies under false pretences, but the state's Supreme Court threw out that lawsuit last week.
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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