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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. 

Alabama Gov. Riley plans to sign bill to increase the number of witnesses

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Alabama Gov. Bob Riley plans to sign a bill into law in time to allow six siblings to witness the scheduled Thursday execution of their mother's convicted killer.

The measure, passed last week by the Legislature, would increase from 2 to 6 the number of immediate family members of a crime victim who can witness the perpetrator's execution. The measure would extend the same right to immediate family members of the inmate condemned to death.

"The governor plans to sign this bill as soon as it is transmitted to our office on Thursday morning," Riley spokesman Jeff Emerson said in an e-mail. "It takes effect immediately, which means it would be in effect for the execution scheduled for Thursday evening."

Willie McNair of Abbeville is scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday evening at Holman Correctional Facility. McNair has been on Death Row since 1991, having been sentenced to death for the 1990 robbery-murder of Ella Foy Riley in her Abbeville home.

Until the witness bill passed the Legislature, Riley's daughter, Pat Jones, and her youngest brother Wayne had planned to watch McNair's execution. If Riley signs the bill as planned, 4 other Riley siblings - Calvin, Don, John and Bobby - also are expected to be witnesses.

Source: Birmingham News, May 12, 2009
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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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