"Missouri executes serial killer Franklin," is AP coverage by Jim Salter. It's via the Kansas City Star.
Joseph Paul Franklin, a white supremacist who targeted blacks and Jews in a cross-country killing spree from 1977 to 1980, was put to death Wednesday in Missouri, the state's first execution in nearly three years.
And:
Mike O'Connell, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said Franklin was pronounced dead at 6:17 a.m.
The execution began more than six hours later than intended, and it took just 10 minutes.
Franklin declined to make a final statement. Wearing black rimmed glasses with long hair tucked behind his ears, he swallowed hard as five grams of pentobarbital were administered. He breathed heavily a couple of times then simply stopped breathing.
Guards closed the curtains to the viewing area while medical personnel confirmed Franklin was dead.
"Serial killer Joseph Franklin executed after hours of delay," is by Lateef Mungin at CNN.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey granted a stay of execution, finding Franklin's lawyers showed the use of pentobarbital carried "a high risk of contamination and prolonged, unnecessary pain beyond that which is required to achieve death."
"Given the irreversible nature of the death penalty and plaintiffs' medical evidence and allegations, a stay is necessary to ensure that the defendants' last act against Franklin is not permanent, irremediable cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment," Laughrey wrote.
Another federal judge granted a second stay Tuesday, based on a separate defense petition contesting Franklin's competency.
"The Court concludes that a stay of execution is required to permit a meaningful review," U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson wrote.
The state appealed both stays to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which decided early Wednesday that Franklin's lawyers had not provided enough evidence to warrant a stay.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Franklin's requests to step in and halt the execution.
Earlier coverage begins at the link.
To date there have been 35 executions in American death penalty states this year; a total of 1,355 post-Furman executions since 1977. It was Missouri's 69th execution since 1989.
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