Death Penalty News

PHOENIX -- A May 20 execution has been scheduled for an Arizona man convicted of murder for fatally setting a man on fire during a 2002 attack, marking what would be the state’s first use of the death penalty this year. The Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday issued a warrant to execute 63-year-old Leroy Dean McGill, who was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Charles Perez. Authorities said McGill threw a cup of gasoline and a lit match at Perez and another person, Nova Banta, as they were sitting on a sofa in an apartment in north Phoenix.

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — The execution of a former Florida police officer convicted of raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl was temporarily halted Thursday by the Florida Supreme Court. The court issued a stay in execution for 68-year-old James Aren Duckett, who was scheduled to receive a three-drug injection Tuesday at Florida State Prison near Starke. Duckett was sentenced to death in 1988 after being convicted of first-degree murder and sexual battery.

Leroy Dean McGill was sentenced to death for a 2002 gasoline attack in North Phoenix against a couple, Charles Perez and Nova Banta. PHOENIX — Attorneys for Arizona death row inmate Leroy Dean McGill have formally challenged the state’s attempt to secure an execution warrant, citing a catastrophic 2025 cyberattack and a long history of troubled lethal injection protocols. The challenge comes as Arizona seeks to resume capital punishment following a year-long hiatus. If the Arizona Supreme Court grants the state’s request, McGill would become the first person executed in the state since 2024.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are facing renewed criticism as a Christian charged in a high-profile case awaits a verdict that could carry the death penalty. The case against Ishtiaq Saleem underscores growing concerns about false blasphemy accusations by organized networks and the risks to religious minorities, according to ADF International, a Christian legal advocacy group supporting the accused’s defense through allied lawyers in Pakistan. “Blasphemy laws create a culture of violence and discrimination and must be repealed,” said Tehmina Arora, director of advocacy for Asia at ADF International, in a press statement. “Ishtiaq must be freed, and Pakistan must move toward a culture that respects and protects religious freedom for all.”

The Israeli Knesset’s National Security Committee has approved a bill that stipulates capital punishment for those convicted of fatal "terrorist acts." Key provisions include execution by hanging within 90 days and the removal of the requirement for a unanimous judicial vote. The bill faces its final parliamentary votes next week. JERUSALEM — An Israeli parliamentary committee on Tuesday cleared a controversial bill that would establish the death penalty for individuals convicted of fatal acts of terrorism, moving the legislation toward a final vote in the Knesset. The National Security Committee approved the draft following a series of heated deliberations. The bill, sponsored by MK Limor Son Har-Melech of the Otzma Yehudit party, is scheduled for its second and third readings next week. If passed, it would mark the first time Israel has established a specific framework for capital punishment for terror-related homicides. Under the proposed law, the penalty would apply to an...

A former Alabama death row inmate is seeking a new trial after finding evidence that his trial attorney was affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. Robin "Rocky" Myers, whose death sentence was commuted to life in prison by Gov. Kay Ivey last year, says in his appeal that John Mays, who represented him at his trial for the murder of Ludi Mae Tucker in 1991, did work for KKK officials in the 1970s and '80s and spoke at their events. "In violation of his right to the assistance of conflict-free counsel, Mr. Myers, a Black man, was represented at trial by John Mays, who had demonstrably deep ties with the Klan for two decades leading up to this representation of Mr. Myers," said the appeal, filed in Morgan County Circuit Court.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from longtime Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed who has sought to test crime-scene evidence that he says will help clear him. The justices left in place a ruling against Reed from the federal appeals court in New Orleans for the second time in less than three years. The three liberal justices dissented. Reed was sentenced to death for the 1996 killing of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. Prosecutors have refused to allow for DNA testing of the webbed belt that was used to strangle Stites as she made her way to work at a supermarket in Bastrop, a rural community about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Austin.

The Knesset National Security Committee is expected to wrap up deliberations on a controversial bill that would mandate the death penalty for terror convicts and send it to the full Knesset for its final two readings before becoming law, a spokesperson tells The Times of Israel. “There is still work being done in the committee,” the spokesperson says. That work includes revisions to the bill, but “the intention is to complete preparation of the bill in the committee this week and transfer it to the plenum.” Haaretz reported earlier today that the committee is hoping to send the bill to the plenum as early as next week.

Billy Kearse was the third Florida execution this year, after a record 19 in 2025. He killed Fort Pierce cop Danny Parrish in 1991. Billy Leon Kearse spent 29 years on death row for killing Fort Pierce police Sgt. Danny Parrish in 1991 — and the case likely cost taxpayers over $1 million or potentially much more. Before Kearse’s execution on March 3 , his various appeals over the decades may have racked up legal fees, but research shows the cost of capital punishment outpaces that of life imprisonment sentences. 

Iranian LGBT activist now living as a refugee in Spain. He was sentenced to death by the ayatollah regime for being homosexual and for his support campaign for the community. "The enemy was already at home," he says about the current war In 11 countries around the world, homosexuality is punishable by death - it is criminalized in almost 70 countries. One of them is the Islamic Republic of Iran, from where Ramtin Zigorat (Tabriz, 1988) managed to escape after avoiding a death sentence and enduring the worst tortures. He has been living as a refugee in Spain for six and a half years. Question . His life, his testimony, can help us better understand what the Iranian Islamist regime is. I believe that until adolescence, you did not fully understand that you were homosexual.

LAS VEGAS — A man who once stood as the youngest person on Nevada’s death row has officially transitioned from a life behind bars to a life under supervision, following his release from High Desert State Prison last month. Edward Michael Domingues, 49, was released on parole on Feb. 13, 2026. His freedom marks the end of 32 consecutive years of incarceration for the 1993 murders of Arjin Chanel Pechpho and her 4-year-old son, Jonathan Smith. Since his release, the case has ignited a renewed debate over Nevada’s victim notification systems. Tawin Eshelman, the mother and grandmother of the victims, confirmed that the family was never formally notified of the parole hearing that led to Domingues' freedom.

TAIWAN’S OLDEST DEATH ROW prisoner, Wang Xin-fu, has been denied a retrial by the Supreme Court. This occurs despite the fact that Wang has consistently maintained his innocence and, in fact, did not commit the murders for which he is on death row. In particular, Wang was sentenced to capital punishment in 2006 over the killing of two police officers at a karaoke bar in 1990. The shooting was committed by Chen Rong-jie, who was then 19. Wang was accused of ordering the hit. It is believed that Wang’s confession of guilt was extracted through torture and intimidation.

TOKYO—People whose lives were upended by the 1995 deadly nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by the Aum Shinrikyo cult marked the 31st anniversary on Friday, with their pain still unhealed despite growing worries about public memory of the event fading. Shizue Takahashi, who lost her husband, then a deputy stationmaster at Kasumigaseki Station, was among those who offered flowers and prayers. Station staff observed a moment of silence at around 8 a.m., when the worst terrorist attack on Japan occurred during the morning rush hour. "People who lost their family members as well as survivors continue to suffer to this date. Even after more than 30 years, the horror (of the attack) lingers," the 79-year-old said.

In his complaint, Michael Wade Nance said his veins were so severely compromised that they were likely to blow and cause him to suffer “excruciating pain” during the execution. ATLANTA (CN) — A panel for the 11th Circuit on Thursday upheld a judge’s ruling against a death row inmate who sought an execution by a firing squad instead of lethal injection. The decision paves the way for the state’s long-awaited execution of Michael Wade Nance, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death over 25 years ago. In a unanimous opinion, the circuit judges agreed with a federal judge’s conclusion that Nance failed to prove lethal injection was likely to cause him an unconstitutional level of pain or discomfort.

Youth crackdown follows arrest, but young North Koreans say South Korean songs understand them better than the state does When a Ministry of State Security agent stopped a young man in a Hyesan alley in mid-February 2026 and demanded to know why he was listening to “rotten South Korean music,” he likely expected contrition. He did not get it. The man cited the lyrics back at him, word for word, and explained precisely why they resonated. The agent filed a report. The case went to the city party committee. A citywide ideological lecture followed.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 19 March 2026: State media reported the executions of protesters Saleh Mohammadi, Saeed Davodi and Mehdi Ghasemi who were accused of participating in the murders of two policemen during protests in Qom on 8 January 2026. The executions were carried out “in the presence of a group of people in Qom.” The three protesters are the first to be hanged in relation to the December 2025/January 2026 nationwide protests. Condemning the executions in the strongest terms, IHRNGO warns about the danger of the mass execution of protesters and political prisoners in the coming weeks.

In his appeal, James Broadnax, who wants a new trial, included a signed confession by his cousin saying he committed the 2008 Garland murders. With just 42 days remaining until his scheduled execution by lethal injection on April 30, 2026, in Huntsville, Texas death row inmate James Broadnax, 37, filed a new appeal Thursday with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, seeking to stay the date, remand his case for a new trial, and ultimately vacate his death sentence for the 2008 capital murders of music producers Stephen Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28, outside their Zion Gate Records studio in Garland. A fabricated story The appeal centers on a signed written declaration from Broadnax's cousin and codefendant, Demarius Cummings, 37—dated March 11 and obtained by media outlets in which Cummings confesses that he alone planned the June 19, 2008, robbery, obtained the pistol used in the crime, and fired the fatal shots during the botched holdup that netted only $2 in cash and a 1995 Fo...

A Lincoln County man pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of murder in the killings of his father and uncle, forgoing a trial where he planned to argue that years of childhood sexual abuse by the victims contributed to his actions. Brandon Mullins, 27, of Eubank, Ky., entered the plea in Lincoln Circuit Court as part of an agreement with prosecutors. He will serve 40 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced in April. The bodies of Mullins' father, Dennis “Ed” Mullins, 57, and uncle, Anthony Mullins, 55, were discovered inside a trailer on Sandidge Spur Road in Eubank in what authorities described as a double homicide. Mullins faced additional charges including tampering with physical evidence.

The proposal, aligned with President Trump’s executive order, would ease certification requirements and make approvals permanent for qualifying states WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice is proposing a rule aimed at speeding up the federal review process in state death penalty cases — a move officials say could significantly shorten the time between conviction and execution. Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced the proposal on March 17 , describing it as part of a broader effort to streamline capital case proceedings and reduce delays that can stretch on for years.