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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 

Virginia: Sniper Asks to Stop Appeals

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John A. Muhammad, who was convicted in the Washington-area sniper attacks of 2002, wrote a letter to prosecutors asking for help in putting an end to his legal appeals from death row.

Mr. Muhammad said in the letter that he was waiving all rights to appeal his 2003 conviction and death sentence. “I’ve written to you all because I know you will make sure this letter will get to the right people — so that you can murder this innocent black man,” he wrote in the letter, dated April 23.

He said that he had informed his appeals lawyers of his desires and that any appeals they had filed had “been done against mine will.” Mr. Muhammad’s appellate lawyer, Jonathan Sheldon, declined to comment.

Source: The New York Times
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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 
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