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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.

Indiana: Teens 1st to face death penalty in Harrison County

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Indiana Death Chamber
Indiana Death Chamber
2 southern Indiana teens accused of murder have turned down plea deals and will now face the death penalty.

Following his advice of his attorney, Austin Scott, 18, turned down a plea deal Friday that had been offered by the state in Harrison Superior Court. Shortly after, Scott's co-defendant, Kevin Andrew Schuler, also 18, followed suit.

"We believe it is premature on our part to make any kind of recommendations at this point to our client because we have to ethically do a proper investigation on his behalf," said Chris Sturgeon, Scott's defense attorney.

Scott and Schuler are charged with murder, burglary and theft in the August 3, 2013 stabbing of Gary Henderson, 70, and the bludgeoning of his wheelchair bound wife, Asenath Arnold, 57, inside their Greenville home.

With the state's offered deal of life in prison without parole in exchange for guilty pleas taken off the table prosecutors vowed to do something they had never done before - file for the death penalty.

"We will file the death penalty in the next couple of days," said Otto Schalk, the Harrison County Prosecutor, "and then we will take it from there."

The death penalty filings will be the 1st ever in Harrison County history.

"We know that there's going to be a lot of work going forward. We know that it's not a quick process," Schalk said. "When you look at other cases throughout the state, throughout the country we know that these things either."

That wisdom was proven in court. The judge rescheduled jury trials previously set during March for both Schuler and Scott at the defense's request.

Status hearings for both Schuler and Scott have been scheduled for Friday, April 25.

Source: WAVE news, January 4, 2014
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