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Japan | Hakamada found religion, but then felt under attack by ‘the devil’

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Editor's note: This is the last in a four-part series on letters that Iwao Hakamada wrote while on death row. About a decade after cursing God, Iwao Hakamada was baptized Catholic at the Tokyo Detention House on Dec. 24, 1984. “Since I have been given the Christian name Paul, I am keenly feeling that I should be aware of the greatness of Paul.” (June 1985)

Idaho set to execute second Death Row inmate within a year

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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A 7th District Judge has signed a death warrant for condemned inmate Richard Albert Leavitt, ordering that he be executed by lethal injection.

Barring any last-minute court intervention, Leavitt will be put to death on June 12.

Leavitt was convicted in the July 18, 1984, brutal death of Danette Elg in Blackfoot.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider Leavitt's appeal Monday, and Judge Jon Shindurling signed the death warrant Thursday.

If Leavitt's execution moves forward as planned, he will become the second person executed by the state in the last seven months. Paul Ezra Rhoades, who was convicted of killing three people in eastern Idaho in 1987, was put to death on Nov. 18, 2011.

Before Rhoades' death, executions were rare in Idaho, with only one other inmate put to death in the last half-century. But several death row inmates appear to be reaching the end of the appeals process, and last year Idaho Department of Correction officials predicted there could be as many as four people executed before the end of 2013.


Source: AP, KlewTV, May 17, 2012

Related video: Life on Idaho's Death Row - Excerpt:
"Death row inmates are kept in their cells 23 hours a day, and only let out for an hour of exercise. The only other time they leave is to be escorted to the shower, or if they have appointments with attorneys or doctors. Before a death row inmate is let out, they're handcuffed through the door's utility port.
A typical cell is about 12 feet long by seven feet wide and includes a shelf, coaxial cable for television, electrical outlets for fans and hot pots, and a narrow window.
Outside maximum security, the current execution chamber is literally a mobile home. But Idaho Department of Correction officials say it's likely a new facility will be built before the next inmate is put to death.
Lethal injection is the form of execution in Idaho.
The option of the firing squad was overturned recently. Idaho has only put one inmate to death since the death penalty was reinstated in the 1970's."

Location: Idaho
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