FEATURED POST

How the execution of a mentally ill man who saved his last meal dessert "for later" delivered Bill Clinton into the Oval Office

Published
Image
The Death of Ricky Ray Rector Ricky Ray Rector grew up in Conway, Arkansas, just an hour’s drive from Bill Clinton’s own hometown of Hot Springs. From the very earliest days of his life, Ricky was considered different and strange. He had few friends, and while other children were out running around, Ricky sat under a tree playing alone with sticks. Those who saw him said he was dreamy and detached, “as if he were locked into some private daze of withdrawal.”

Iran: Prisoners hanged in Qom and Uromiyeh

Published
(file photo)

As the wave of executions in Iran continue unabated under Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian regime henchmen hanged a prisoner in city of Qum on Tuesday. Another prisoner was hanged in city of Uromiyeh in north western Iran on Monday. 

The prisoner hanged in the main prison in city of Qum was identified as Q.S., state-run news agency IRNA reported. He had been arrested on drug related charges. The execution in Uromiyeh prison has not been covered by the media. 

On Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's said in his annual report to the General Assembly expressed alarm at the recent increase in executions in Iran. 

The report said: the promises made by Hassan Rouhani "have not yet led to significant improvements, and restrictions on freedom of expression continue to affect many areas of life." 

He also criticized Tehran for carrying out death sentences on juveniles. "According to information gathered from reliable sources, more than 160 juveniles are currently on death row and at least 2 have been executed in recent months for crimes that they committed when they were younger than 18," Ban's report said. 

Under so-called 'moderate' Hassan Rouhani the country has faced highest number of executions in a year compared to any Iranian regime's president for the past 25 years. 

Source: NCR-Iran, Sept. 17, 2014
Related content:

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

How the execution of a mentally ill man who saved his last meal dessert "for later" delivered Bill Clinton into the Oval Office

Published
Image
The Death of Ricky Ray Rector Ricky Ray Rector grew up in Conway, Arkansas, just an hour’s drive from Bill Clinton’s own hometown of Hot Springs. From the very earliest days of his life, Ricky was considered different and strange. He had few friends, and while other children were out running around, Ricky sat under a tree playing alone with sticks. Those who saw him said he was dreamy and detached, “as if he were locked into some private daze of withdrawal.”
Read more

Iran | Probable Juvenile Offender Ali Najafi Executed for Murder

Published
Image
Ali Najafi was 17 at the time of offence and 24 at the time of execution. Ali was taken back and forth to the gallows nine times; his maternal uncle insisted on his execution being carried out.” Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 28, 2023: Ali Najafi was executed for murder charges in Khorramabad Central Prison. Arrested at 17, he was probably a juvenile offender. IHRNGO is working to verify his age. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a probable juvenile offender was executed in Khorramabad Central Prison on 27 September. His identity has been established as 24-year-old Ali Najafi from Kouhdasht who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for the murder of his cousin (maternal uncle’s son).
Read more

Jordan | Former police officer sentenced to death for revenge murder

Published
Image
AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a November 2022 Police Court ruling sentencing a former police officer to death after convicting him of murdering a man to avenge his brother’s murder in Amman in October 2017. The court declared the defendant guilty of shooting and killing the victim multiple times on October 10 and handed him capital punishment. The court also decided to demote the defendant’s rank from lieutenant to an officer and discharged him from service. Court papers said the defendant plotted to murder the victim shortly following his brother’s murder by a close relative of the victim.
Read more

Texas to End Execution Hiatus on World Day Against the Death Penalty

Published
Image
After execution-free summer, death scheduled Oct. 10 This summer has been one of the quietest in the history of Texas' death row. No prisoners have been executed since March. But the state is planning to put three people to death in the coming months, starting with Jedidiah Murphy on Oct. 10, a date that happens to fall on the World Day Against the Death Penalty. Michael Zoosman, co-founder of L'chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty, has corresponded with Murphy, who is Jewish, for years. "I have gotten to know Jedidiah very well," he said. "From day one, he has been honest with me that he is guilty of the crime that led him to death row. He has not made any excuses for his actions. He's been contrite. He's been repentant from day one."
Read more

South Korea | Serial killer transferred to detention center in Seoul equipped with execution chamber

Published
Image
A death row inmate serving time in prison for the serial killings of 21 people has recently been transferred to a detention center in Seoul equipped with execution facilities, judicial officials said Monday. Yoo Young-chul, one of the most notorious serial killers in the country, was relocated from a prison in the southeastern city of Daegu to the Seoul Detention Center last week, according to the Ministry of Justice.  They also transferred Jung Hyung-gu, another inmate sentenced to death for killing newlyweds with a shotgun for overtaking his car on an unpaved road, to the center.
Read more

Oklahoma archbishop decries execution of Anthony Sanchez as ‘archaic’

Published
Image
Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City on Thursday called the execution of convicted murderer Anthony Sanchez , which took place a week ago, “fundamentally at odds with the culture of life the state of Oklahoma proclaims to be building.” Sanchez was convicted of the 1996 rape and murder of 21-year-old University of Oklahoma student Juli Busken, KOCO5 reported. He died Sept. 21 at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, about a 130-mile drive from Oklahoma City.  [ It must be noted and emphasized that Anthony Sanchez maintained his innocence until the very last second of his life and claimed his late father confessed to the crime before committing suicide in 2022 . — DPN]
Read more

Florida | Convicted killer will represent himself in death penalty trial

Published
Image
Convicted killer Peter Avsenew will represent himself next month when a jury is convened to determine whether he deserves to live or die.  Avsenew, 38, was convicted last year of the murders of Kevin Powell, 47, and Stephen Adams, 52, a Wilton Manors couple who took him into their home during the holiday season in 2010 only to have him turn on them, steal their car and escape to his mother’s home in Polk County.  Earlier this week, Avsenew rejected a deal that would have taken the death penalty off the table if he would agree not to pursue an investigation into jury misconduct at his retrial. Jurors admitted that they improperly discussed the case among themselves in a social media app, with some making up their minds before the penalty phase of his trial even began. 
Read more

Texas | Death row inmate with 40-year mental illness history ruled not competent to be executed

Published
Image
HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas death row inmate with a long history of mental illness, and who tried to call Jesus Christ and John F. Kennedy as trial witnesses, is not competent to be executed, a federal judge ruled. Scott Panetti, 65, who has been on death row for nearly 30 years for fatally shooting his in-laws in front of his wife and young children, has contended that Texas wants to execute him to cover up incest, corruption, sexual abuse and drug trafficking he has uncovered. He has also claimed the devil has “blinded” Texas and is using the state to kill him to stop him from preaching and “saving souls.”
Read more

Judge sets trial date for Ohio dad accused of lining up and executing 3 young sons with rifle ahead of Father’s Day

Published
Image
Ohio prosecutors will have close to a year to prepare for a potential death penalty trial against the father charged with executing his three young sons with a rifle just before Father’s Day last June. Chad Christopher Doerman, 32, is currently set to face a jury of his peers in Clermont County from July 8, 2024 to Aug. 2, 2024 in the deaths of 3-year-old Chase, 4-year-old Hunter, and 7-year-old Clayton Doerman, court records show. Common Pleas Court Judge Richard P. Ferenc set the trial date Friday, Sept. 22, anticipating the proceedings will span four weeks. In July, prosecutors alleged for the first time that Doerman began shooting the victims after asking his wife and sons to join him for a nap in the then-couple’s bedroom at their Laurel Lindale Road home in New Richmond, Monroe Township. The defendant, home from work early on June 15 (a Thursday), then allegedly got out of bed and opened fire. Prosecutors said that Doerman planned the murders for months and admitted he hadn’t sle
Read more

USA | Death Row Inmates Find Fewer Paths to Supreme Court Reprieves

Published
Image
Richard Glossip has had his last meal three times. It may be four if the US Supreme Court doesn’t agree at its private conference Tuesday to hear the Oklahoma death row inmate’s latest appeal. Glossip’s execution dates have been blocked nine times, most recently by the high court in May, since he was convicted in 1998 of hiring a man to kill the owner of the motel he managed. But his case is unusual: only one other inmate has had an execution put on hold since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September 2020, giving President Donald Trump his third appointment to cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the court.
Read more