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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Oklahoma executes Steven Ray Thacker

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Steven Ray Thacker
McALESTER — Convicted multi-murderer Steven Ray Thacker was executed Tuesday night, 13 years after the kidnapping, rape and fatal stabbing of his first victim, Laci Dawn Hill, 25, of Bixby.

Steven Ray Thacker, 42, used his final statement to apologize to his victims' families and friends, several of whom witnessed his execution from an adjacent room at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

"I don't deserve it, but as God has forgiven me, I hope you will forgive me for the pain I've caused," Thacker said while strapped to a hospital gurney. He then thanked his family and friends for their support, and added: "An eternity in heaven is mine."

Thacker winked at his stepfather, Donald Johnston, who silently nodded back at him. Thacker then lay still, with his eyes closed and occasionally fluttering as if asleep.

After two minutes, his breathing stilled and he didn't stir again. Legal drugs were injected into his system beginning at 6:03 p.m. He was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

“I would like to apologize sincerely to the families of Lacy Hill, Forrest Boyd and Ray Patterson. I don’t deserve it, but as God has forgiven me, I hope you will forgive me for the pain I’ve caused,” he said before the execution.

From Dec. 23, 1999, to Jan. 2, 2000, Thacker killed three people in as many states starting with Hill.

He was handed the death penalty for Hill’s slaying.

Thacker used credit and debit cards stolen from Hill to purchase Christmas gifts for his family.

Her body was found in an abandoned Mayes County cabin on Dec. 29, 1999, six days after he had gone to her Bixby home under the guise of buying a pool table that she had advertised in a newspaper.

On the lam following the Hill homicide, Thacker fled to Missouri, where he carjacked a family three days after Christmas. During a burglary, he surprised a returning homeowner, stabbing to death restaurant supervisor Forrest Boyd, 24, of Aldrich, Mo., on Jan. 1, 2000.

Stealing Boyd’s vehicle, Thacker drove to Tennessee before the car broke down and he hailed a tow. On Jan. 2, 2000, he fatally stabbed service station owner Ray Patterson, 52, in Dyersburg, Tenn., after the credit card Thacker used to pay for the tow came back stolen.

Thacker also received a death sentence upon his conviction for the Patterson slaying. He pleaded guilty to killing Boyd and was handed a no-parole life sentence.

Source: AP, March 12, 2013
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