The United States on Friday executed its 1Â 000th prisoner since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Kenneth Lee Boyd, a convicted double-murderer, was pronounced dead at 2.15am (7.15am GMT) after a lethal injection of three drugs, said a spokesperson from North Carolina’s Department of Corrections.
Boyd never denied shooting and killing his estranged wife and her father in 1988.
The supreme court rejected his final appeal and state governor Mike Easley decided not to stop the execution.
”Having carefully reviewed the facts and circumstances of these crimes and convictions, I find no compelling reason to grant clemency and overturn the unanimous jury verdicts affirmed by the state and federal courts,” said Easley a few hours before Boyd’s death.
During a prison interview, Boyd said he was uncomfortable with the dubious title of becoming the 1Â 000th person to be executed.
”I’d hate to be remembered as that,” he said. ”I don’t like the idea of being picked as a number.”
In 1988, Boyd murdered Julie Curry Boyd (36) and her father Thomas Dillard Curry (57). Family members said he had been stalking Julie after they separated following a 13-year unhappy marriage.
Before he was put to death, Boyd asked his daughter-in-law to look after his son — who attended the execution — and his grandchildren. His final words were ”God bless everybody in here”.
His execution drew a crowd of protestors outside the prison in Raleigh, North Carolina. Around 100 death penalty opponents stood outside holding candles and reading out the names of the other 999 people who have been executed in the US.
At least 18 of the protestors were arrested and charged with trespassing, police officials said.
The US supreme court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 after a10-year ban. The first person to be subsequently executed was Gary Gilmore, who died in front of a firing squad in Utah in 1977.
Thirty-eight states and the federal government permit capital punishment. Texas has the highest rate of executions since 1976 at 355. Amnesty International says only China, Iran and Vietnam held more executions in 2004 than the US.
Singapore on Friday executed an Australian drug trafficker, despite repeated pleas by the Australian government for compassion.
Nguyen Tuong Van was hung at dawn after being convicted of smuggling 396g of heroin through Singapore in 2002. He was en route from Cambodia to Australia.
John Howard, Australia’s Prime Minister, said the execution would damage diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Singapore says its tough penalties for drug trafficking are an effective deterrent against the crime, and that foreigners and Singaporeans must be treated alike. – Guardian Unlimited