Georgia executes Brandon Rhode

Brandon Rhode

Brandon Joseph Rhode was put to death Monday night by lethal injection at the state prison at Jackson. The 31-year-old man was pronounced dead at 10:16 p.m. by prison officials.

Rhode declined to speak any last words or have a final prayer.

Rhode's execution had been set for 7 p.m. but was pushed back several hours as corrections officials waited for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide on his plea for a stay of execution. The court rejected appeals later that night.

Medics then tried for about 30 minutes to find a vein to inject the three-drug concoction.

The prisoner's eyes darted around the room before the lethal mixture began coursing through his veins. Within minutes he was staring blankly at the ceiling of the death chamber. Moments before Rhode was pronounced dead he turned his head, exposing a bandage over the part of his neck he slashed.

It took 14 minutes for the lethal dose to kill him.

The U.S. Supreme Court had earlier denied an appeal claiming that Rhode was subjected to inhumane treatment and was not mentally competent to be executed. The nation's high court on Monday rejected pleas for a stay.

He was convicted in 2000 of the killings of Steven Moss, 37, his 11-year-old son Bryan and 15-year-old daughter Kristin during a burglary of their Jones County home. His coconspirator, Daniel Lucas, was also sentenced to death in a separate trial and he remains on death row.

His execution was pushed back several times after his Sept. 21 suicide attempt.

Rhode becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Georgia and the 48th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1983.

Rhode becomes the 40th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1228th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.

Source: AP, Rick Halperin, September 27, 2010

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