Arizona executes Donald Beaty

Donald Beaty

Convicted killer Donald Beaty was put to death by lethal injection Wednesday night after hours of legal delays in which his defense team fought to challenge a change in the drugs used to kill him.

Beaty, 56, was put to death at about 8 p.m. at Arizona State Prison Complex-Florence for the 1984 murder of 13-year-old Christy Ann Fornoff. Fornoff disappeared on the evening of May 9, 1984, while collecting money on her newspaper-delivery route at a Tempe apartment complex.

A string of last-minute state and federal appeals filed by Beaty's attorneys Wednesday focused on whether Arizona Department of Corrections officials could legally substitute the drug pentobarbital for sodium thiopental as part of the lethal 3-drug cocktail injected into Arizona's condemned prisoners, including Beaty.

8 hours of legal debate took place in 3 cities - Phoenix, Washington D.C. and San Francisco - before appeals were exhausted and final preparations were made for Beaty's execution.

In arguing for a stay, Beaty's attorneys said more time was needed to determine if the last-minute drug substitution - it was announced late Tuesday - would infringe on Beaty's constitutional rights or constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

They also suggested that corrections officials should have taken more time to train executioners in the use of pentobarbital, since it was not a part of the state's existing execution-drug protocol. One filing called the last-minute change "unconscionable."

The substitution was made at the request of federal authorities, who told state corrections officials Tuesday that the thiopental they proposed to use did not have the proper importation paperwork. It was then the corrections department disclosed that it had pentobarbital on hand as a substitute.

The defense first took its pleas for more time to the Arizona Supreme Court during oral arguments Wednesday morning. The state's high court rejected the arguments several hours later after meeting behind closed doors.

Rejections continued throughout the afternoon: first in U.S. District Court, then twice at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected 2 other legal arguments put forth to block the execution.

In the end, the courts recognized the state's right to substitute pentobarbital for thiopental. One judge noted during oral arguments that pentobarbital already had been reviewed by other courts and approved for executions.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne, meanwhile, called the daylong delay a "slap in the face" to the Fornoff family.

By 6 p.m., however, prison officials were cleared to proceed with the execution after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider further appeals.

On that May evening in 1984, Fornoff's mother let her out of her sight just long enough to chat with a neighbor, and within hours, police were combing the complex with canine units as Fornoff's parents and neighbors knocked on doors.

2 days later, Beaty, the complex's maintenance man, was seen standing over Fornoff's body, which had been wrapped in a sheet and laid next to a garbage bin. Beaty told the man who saw him that he had just found the body and had already called police.

But evidence linked Beaty to the crime. While his 1st trial ended in a hung jury, his 2nd included a psychiatrist's testimony that he had heard Beaty confess. The doctor said on the stand that Beaty had not intended to kill the girl, but had put his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams and she suffocated on her own vomit.

Beaty was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Beaty becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Arizona, and the 26th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1992.

Beaty becomes the 19th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1253rd overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. There are 7 scheduled executions in the USA in June, including 4 in Texas, and 1 each in Ohio, Alabama and Virginia.

Sources: Arizona Republic, Rick Halperin, May 25, 2011

Related article: "Arizona inmate Donald Beaty granted temporary stay of execution", AP, May 25, 2011

_________________________

Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this page to find updates, older or related articles on this Website.

Comments

Iran | Convicted killer hanged in Tabriz. Execution carried out by his uncle, who was plaintiff in the case

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 10, 2025: Hassan Saei, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Tabriz Central Prison. His execution was carried out by his uncle, who was the plaintiff in the case. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Tabriz Central Prison on 6 May 2025. His identity has been established as Hassan Saei who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court. An informed source told IHRNGO: “Hassan Saei was arrested for the murder of his cousin and his maternal uncle carried out the execution.”

Wyoming Hasn't Executed Anyone In 33 Years, But It's Tried

It's been 33 years since Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan stood in his office next to his priest, warring with himself over the execution of convicted serial killer Mark Hopkinson. The state hasn't executed anyone since that day — but it's tried. In the final few moments of convicted killer Mark Hopkinson’s life, protesters converged on the Wyoming State Capitol while the governor stood in his office, with a priest by his side. The state of Wyoming executed Hopkinson by lethal injection Jan. 22, 1992, at the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins — 13 years after he was convicted.

Oklahoma | Former death row inmate Richard Glossip’s legal limbo

Former death row inmate Richard Glossip's court hearing gets postponed, leaving the next steps in his high-profile case uncertain. With his conviction overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the state must now decide whether to retry him for a 1997 murder of motel owner, Barry Van Treese. Richard Glossip’s long-running legal battle is once again delayed. His much-anticipated court hearing set for May 9 in Oklahoma County District Court has been postponed at the request of both prosecutors and defense attorneys, according to online court records. A new date has not yet been scheduled.

Oscar Franklin Smith, Tennessee death row inmate, declines to select execution method

Oscar Franklin Smith, a Tennessee death row inmate scheduled for execution on May 22, will die by lethal injection if the process moves forward. Smith, who was asked to choose between lethal injection and the electric chair, declined to pick, his attorney Kelley Henry, a supervisory assistant federal public defender, said. When an inmate does not choose, the method defaults to lethal injection. It's not the first time Smith has been given this grim decision and declined. That decision to not choose ultimately saved his life for three more years.

Florida death row executioner recalls moment he realised job wasn't for him

Ron McAndrew was once the head of Florida's execution programme but one death made him regret everything A man that was once the head of Florida's execution programme recalled the moment where he realised the job wasn't for him, as he admitted he needed therapy to come to terms with what he'd seen. Ron McAndrew, now 88, didn't aspire to be a correctional officer in any form, but after being hired in a Miami prison in 1979, he climbed up the ladder over the next decade and became a warden. In what he now calls a 'wonderful career', he recalled moving to Florida State Prison, famous for holding the US state's death row inmates and for being the site where serial killer Ted Bundy was electrocuted to death.

Saudi Arabia imposes death sentence for Bible smuggling

November 28, 2014: In a recent official statement from the Saudi Arabian government, the death sentence will now be imposed on anyone who attempts to smuggle Bibles into the country. In actuality, the new law extends to the importing of all illegal drugs and "all publications that have a prejudice to any other religious beliefs other than Islam." In other words, anyone who attempts to bring Bibles or Gospel literature into the country will have all materials confiscated and be imprisoned and sentenced to death. Source: heartcrymissionary.com, November 28, 2014

Execution methods used in the US today: The promise of a quick and painless death

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT The practice of execution has been around since the days of ancient civilisations, and, as uncomfortable as it may be to think about, this punishment is still handed out in various countries around the world today. Capital punishment for murder was suspended in the UK as recently as 1965, within living memory. Peter Anthony Allen and Gwynne Owen Evans became the last prisoners to be executed on British soil on August 13, 1964, with the pair hanged at separate prisons in Manchester and Liverpool for the murder of John Alan West. Since then, there have been frequent calls to bring back the death penalty, which some supporters believe to be an effective deterrent against the most despicable crimes. Those on the other side of the debate believe capital punishment to be an inhumane measure, often citing the numerous instances where convicts have faced agonising deaths.

Woman who killed pregnant victim she met on Facebook, cut fetus from womb, ‘claimed’ child as her own to face death penalty trial after double jeopardy appeal rejected

"The stuff that nightmares are made on." Reader discretion advised. A 45-year-old woman in Arkansas who lured a pregnant victim into an ambush and cut out her fetus in a botched scheme to “claim” the child as her own will face the death penalty after the state’s highest court rejected an appeal in which her lawyers argued that her upcoming state murder trial was barred by double jeopardy. The Arkansas Supreme Court last week denied the appeal of Amber Waterman, holding that her federal kidnapping convictions did not prohibit the state from pursuing murder charges against her for the 2022 slayings of 33-year-old Ashley Bush and her unborn daughter, whom she had named Valkyrie Grace Willis.

Dallas DA John Creuzot says office will seek death penalty in retrial of Texas 7 escapee

This will be the first time Creuzot has pursued capital punishment since taking office in 2019. Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot confirmed to The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday morning that his office will seek the death penalty against Texas Seven escapee Randy Halprin. This will be the first time Creuzot has pursued capital punishment since taking office in 2019. He has opted not to seek death in other high-profile cases, like accused serial killer Billy Chemirmir, Yaser Said, who fatally shot his two teenage daughters and went on the run for more than a decade, or Nestor Hernandez, who murdered two hospital workers at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.

Florida executes Glen Rogers

Florida executes suspected serial killer once eyed for possible link to the OJ Simpson case A suspected serial killer once scrutinized for a possible link to the O.J. Simpson case that riveted the nation in the 1990s was executed Thursday in Florida for the murder of a woman found dead in a Tampa motel room. Glen Rogers, 62, received a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke and was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m., authorities said. He was convicted in Florida of the 1995 murder of Tina Marie Cribbs, a 34-year-old mother of 2 he had met at a bar.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog