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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 

Marathon-bombing trial stays in Boston, judge rules

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BOSTON — A federal judge ruled yesterday that the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of planting two bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon, will remain in Boston but be delayed for two months.

U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole rejected an argument by Tsarnaev’s attorneys that the trial should be moved because their client cannot get a fair trial in Boston. However, O’Toole delayed the trial until Jan. 5. Attorneys for Tsarnaev had sought a delay until September 2015.

Tsarnaev has pleaded not guilty in the bombing that killed three and injured more than 260. He and his older brother, Tamerlan, are accused of detonating two pressure-cooker bombs near the finish line of the marathon. Tamerlan was killed during a gunbattle with police days after the bombings.

Source: The Columbus-Dispatch, September 25, 2014
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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

Published
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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 
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