Today's Oklahoman reports, "Oklahoma executes man for 1993 shootings." It's written by Sean Murphy.
A death row inmate was executed Tuesday for the 1993 shooting deaths of an Oklahoma City couple.George Ochoa, 38, was given an injection of lethal drugs at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester. He was pronounced dead at 6:07 p.m.
And:
Ochoa lost a late attempt at having his execution postponed when the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied his request for a stay. A federal appeals court on Monday rejected arguments that Ochoa was mentally unfit to be executed and a challenge to the state’s procedure for determining sanity.
Prosecutors said there was little evidence to suggest a motive for the killing, but no doubt that Ochoa and his co-defendant, Osbaldo Torres, 37, were responsible.
Also:
Torres, a Mexican citizen, was also convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in the shootings, but his sentence was reduced by then-Gov. Brad Henry in 2004.
Henry imposed a sentence of life without parole after Mexican government officials raised concerns that Torres was not given a chance to speak with the Mexican consulate after being accused, as required by international conventions.
It was Oklahoma's sixth execution of 2012; the state's 102nd post-Furman execution since 1990. To date, there have been 41 executions in American death penalty states this year; a total of 1,318 post-Furman executions since 1977.
Arizona is scheduled to execute Richard Stokley, today, as noted by the Arizona Republic.
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