Death Penalty News

Adam Sheafe, the California man who admitted to killing a New River, Arizona, pastor in a crucifixion-style attack, has asked prosecutors to offer him a plea deal that would result in a natural life sentence rather than the death penalty he had previously sought. Advisory council attorneys representing Sheafe sent a formal plea offer to prosecutors this week, about two weeks after his father and stepmother died in a plane crash at Marana Airport on April 8, according to 12 News. Sheafe, 51, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of William Schonemann, 76, pastor of New River Bible Church, who was found dead inside his home last April.

TOKYO— A 47-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of killing a 29-year-old woman in Tokyo’s Roppongi district in 2018. Police said Nobuaki Takahashi, who had been on an international wanted list since June 2019, was arrested on Saturday at Narita airport after being extradited from Malaysia, NTV reported. Takahashi left Japan for Malaysia on Oct 13, 2018, five days before the body of Aisha Kumi Balletta, 29, was found in his apartment. Balletta, a Japanese-American, had multiple head injuries and had been dead for more than a week. She lived in Yokohama and was apparently a regular visitor to the apartment, neighbors said.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has directed federal prisons to expand the range of methods used for executions to include firing squads, gas asphyxiation and electrocution. In a 48-page memo released on Friday, the department says this will "strengthen" the death penalty, "deterring the most barbaric crimes, delivering justice for victims, and providing long-overdue closure to surviving loved ones". The previous administration had placed a moratorium on most federal executions. Before leaving office, former president Joe Biden gave clemency to 37 of the 40 federal death row prisoners. President Donald Trump directed the DOJ to resume seeking executions on his first day in office last year.

The US Justice Department is moving to accelerate federal death penalty cases, introducing significant changes that include expanding execution methods to allow death by firing squad. The shift signals a broader effort to revive and reinforce policies aimed at speeding up capital punishment proceedings after a period of rollback under the previous administration. At the core of the changes is a renewed emphasis on enforcement. Officials say the updated framework is designed to reduce delays in the legal process and ensure that sentences — particularly in the most serious criminal cases — are carried out more efficiently.

Iran has executed two men for alleged Mossad spying and protest-linked "chaos". Following the recent string of executions, rights groups have accused the Iran administration and judiciary of holding opaque trials and forced confessions. Iran has carried out two separate executions in recent days, putting to death individuals accused of links to Israel and involvement in anti-government unrest. The executions are part of the Iranian authorities’ wider crackdown that has drawn heavy flak from rights groups.

Iran has ramped up its executions since the outbreak of war with Israel and the US, putting to death 9 people linked to the protests since mid-March TEHRAN — Iran on Saturday executed a man for his role in mass anti-government protests in January, claiming he was carrying out a “mission” on behalf of Israel’s spy agency, the judiciary reported. It is the latest in a string of executions since war broke out with Israel and the United States. Erfan Kiani was hanged after his sentence was upheld by the country’s Supreme Court, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.

Saturday April 25th is National DNA Day , mark­ing the anniver­sary of the 1953 dis­cov­ery of DNA’s dou­ble helix struc­ture and the 2003 com­ple­tion of the Human Genome Project. Today, the Death Penalty Information Center is pleased to present a new resource exam­in­ing the con­tro­ver­sial role of ​“junk sci­ence” in cap­i­tal cas­es. When DNA test­ing became one of the most rig­or­ous­ly val­i­dat­ed tools in foren­sic sci­ence, its devel­op­ment also prompt­ed greater scruti­ny of oth­er foren­sic tech­niques. Many dis­ci­plines that were long accept­ed in U.S. court­rooms have now been found to lack ade­quate sci­en­tif­ic foun­da­tion and have become known as ​“junk science.”

A day after the state carried out its fifth execution of the year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his eighth death warrant of 2026. DeSantis on Wednesday signed the warrant for Richard Knight, 47, to be executed May 21 for the 2000 murder of Odessia Stephens and her four-year-old daughter Hanessia Mullings in Broward County. According to court records, Knight became irate after Stephens asked him to move out of the apartment where she lived with his cousin Hans Mullings and her daughter. Hans Mullings was not home at the time. After going outside to walk, Knight returned, exchanged more words with Stephens, got a knife from the kitchen and went to the master bedroom where he began stabbing Stephens until she stopped resisting.

Advisory urges travellers to avoid carrying items for strangers and stay vigilant at transit points as arrests of foreign nationals rise under stricter legal regime The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Thursday issued a strong warning to Indian nationals travelling to the Maldives, cautioning them about that country’s recently strengthened anti-drug laws that now impose life imprisonment and even the death penalty for drug-related offences. RELATED |  Maldives: Death penalty law for drug trafficking now in effect Under the amended Maldives’ Drugs Act, which took effect last month, the country has introduced some of the world’s most stringent penalties for drug-related crimes. The NCB warned that under the new legal framework, “ignorance of the law is not a defence”, and any violation will result in severe judicial consequences.

OCALA, Fla. — State prosecutors announced Thursday they will seek the death penalty against a Citra man accused of the 2024 killing of a 3-year-old child, following the filing of a new capital charge. Jeroen Coombs, 37, appeared in a Marion County courtroom where the state formalized its intent to pursue the execution of the defendant. The notice of intent follows a grand jury indictment that now includes sexual battery on a child under the age of 12.  Coombs was already facing counts of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in connection with the toddler's death. Court records do not explicitly state whether the supplemental sexual battery charge involves the deceased victim or a separate individual. Under Florida’s current capital sentencing statutes, the presence of certain aggravating factors—including the age of the victim and the commission of a felony such as sexual battery during a homicide—allows the state to seek the highest penalty under the law. The case has mo...

Erbil, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities on Thursday executed another prisoner, citing alleged ties to Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, as well as to an exiled opposition group, a media affiliate of the Iranian judiciary reported. This comes as Tehran has in recent weeks executed more than a dozen detainees, including individuals arrested during nationwide anti-government protests in January. Mizan Online relayed that Soltanali Shirzadi Fakhr was hanged after he “was convicted on charges of moharebeh [waging war against God] through membership in the terrorist [Mojahedin Khalq Organization] MKO/MEK group.”

Judges reject a challenge that argued it was cruel and degrading Malaysia's top court has ruled that the use of caning as a form of punishment is constitutional, while dismissing a plea from prisoners seeking relief from the punishment imposed on them. In a 2-1 majority decision, the Malaysian Federal Court ruled that the use of whipping or caning did not fall within the ambit of a cruel, oppressive and degrading punishment in the constitutional sense, Bernama reported on April 22. It is not the function of the court to act as a moral arbiter or a 'super-legislature' in the guise of constitutional interpretation, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, one of the judges, said.

Prior to Wednesday’s execution some 16 political prisoners were executed in a month, including eight from the PMOI. An Iranian opposition leader criticised European countries on Wednesday for doing too little to halt executions in Iran, after Tehran carried out another execution in what opponents say is a wartime crackdown on dissent. The judiciary’s news outlet Mizan reported on Wednesday that a man convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence service and passing sensitive information had been executed.

Saudi Arabia’s execution of more than 2,000 people over the last decade in many cases violates Saudi and international law and belies the government’s claims of reform, 36 groups including Human Rights Watch said today. The following is their statement:  As of early April 2026, the number of executions carried out by Saudi Arabia since King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s accession to the throne on January 23, 2015—and the subsequent appointment of his son, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, on June 21, 2017—has surpassed 2,000, according to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), marking a stark escalation in the use of capital punishment under their rule. 

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)—The State Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty against a woman who is accused of killing her ex-lovers. Susan Avalon, 55, was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of her 55-year-old ex-boyfriend in Tampa. Avalon is also accused of killing her ex-husband, David Scott in Manatee County on the same day, the State Attorney’s Office said. “He was very caring, very kind. He was extremely funny,” said Julia Scott, David’s daughter. “He was really like a rock for us. I miss being able to go to him and tell him stuff that’s happening because he always was really supportive.”

US musician D4vd has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder in the death of a teenage girl who vanished last year. The singer, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, is accused of murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose remains were found in September in a Tesla registered to his Texas address. Burke, 21, also was charged with murder for "financial gain" and with murder of a witness to an investigation, the Los Angeles district attorney said. He did not speak during his arraignment on Monday – his first court appearance since his arrest last week. His lawyers entered his plea on his behalf.

A 25-year-old Portuguese national was arrested at Changi Airport for allegedly attempting to smuggle approximately 36.3kg of cannabis into Singapore. The arrest occurred on April 14, 2026, though details were released by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on April 22. The suspect arrived at Changi Airport on April 14 and was scheduled to depart the following day. His passage through the Terminal 2 Baggage South Red/Green Channel triggered a secondary inspection. K-9 officers from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) assisted in the operation, leading to the discovery of 68 packets of controlled drugs concealed within his luggage.

STARKE, Fla. -- A Florida man who set his neighbor on fire after she returned from work to find him burglarizing her home was executed Tuesday evening. Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, received a three-drug injection and was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke for the 1990 killing of Marlys Sather. It was Florida's fifth execution this year. The curtain to the execution chamber went up promptly at the scheduled 6 p.m. time, and the lethal injection got underway two minutes later, after Willacy made a brief statement.

Chadwick Willacy, 58, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting for the 1990 killing of Marlys Sather. This would be Florida’s fifth execution in 2026 following a record 19 executions last year. A man who set his Brevard County neighbor on fire after she found him burglarizing her home during her lunch break from work is set to be executed Tuesday evening at the Florida State Prison. Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. for the 1990 killing of Marlys Sather. Willacy was sentenced to death a year later upon a 9-3 jury recommendation after being convicted of first-degree murder, burglary, robbery and arson.