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Texas: Rodney Reed granted indefinite stay of execution

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Stay of execution came just hours after parole board unanimously recommended 120-day reprieve
The Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed was granted a stay of execution on Friday, 5 days before he was scheduled to be put to death for a murder he insists he did not commit.
The Texas court of criminal appeals blocked the execution indefinitely and sent the case back to the trial court in Bastrop county, where Reed was sentenced in 1998 for the murder of Stacey Stites two years earlier.
The court had previously rejected multiple appeals, but Reed’s lawyers argued that fresh evidence bolstered his claim of innocence. 
They said in a statement that they “are extremely relieved and thankful … this opportunity will allow for proper consideration of the powerful and mounting new evidence of Mr Reed’s innocence”.
Millions of people, including a clutch of celebrities, have rallied behind Reed’s cause, helping to generate momentum and public attention as the execution date of 20 November loomed an…

Iran: 3 More Executions in Tabriz

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Public hanging in Iran
3 prisoners were hanged at Tabriz Central Prison on murder charges while 3 other prisoners were hanged at the same prison on Wednesday November 22.

According to a report by HRANA News Agency, on the morning of Sunday November 26, 3 prisoners were executed at Tabriz Central Prison (Northwestern Iran). 

The prisoners were sentenced to death on murder charges.

One of the prisoners was identified as Taher Amini, 30, from Maragheh. The prisoner was from ward 9 of Tabriz Central Prison. 

The 2 other prisoners, who were from ward 12, have not been identified.

Three other prisoners were executed at the same prison on similar charges only 4 days before these executions, on Wednesday November 22.

The execution of these prisoners has not been announced by the state-run media so far.

According to Iran Human Rights annual report on the death penalty, 142 of the 530 execution sentences in 2016 were implemented due to murder charges. 

There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in issuing death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and intent.

Source: Iran Human Rights, November 28, 2017


Iran: Four hanged


Iran Human Rights (Nov 23 2017): A prisoner was hanged at Rajai Shahr Prison on Moharebeh charges and three other were executed at Tabriz Central Prison on murder charges.


Execution in Karaj


According to a close source, a prisoner was executed at Rajai Shahr Prison charged with Moharebeh (waging war against God) on Wednesday November 22. The prisoner, identified as Majid Sa’adat, was transferred to solitary confinement on Wednesday November 15.

On Wednesday November 21, he was returned to his cell, while his execution was thought to have been stopped. However, he was transferred to solitary confinement again on Wednesday and was executed.

Majid Sa’adat was convicted of Moharebeh, while there is no information regarding his criminal offence and the evidence against him.

“Majid Sa’adat extorted some of the Iranian authorities by posing as government officials and an agent of the Ministry of Intelligence. However, he was never aggressive and did not use cold weapons or guns, which would make his crime count as Moharebeh,” Said one of the prisoner’s relatives to Iran Human Rights (IHR).

IHR is investigating further into this case.


Execution in Tabriz


According to a report by HRANA News Agency which is also confirmed by Iran Human Rights (IHR), on the morning of Wednesday November 22, three prisoners were executed at Tabriz Central Prison on murder charges.

Kurdistan Human Rights Network identified the three prisoners as Jamal Qanbari from Tabriz, Sa’ed Askari from Mianeh, and Ali Delgoshadi from Mamqan.

The executions of these prisoners have not been announced by the state-run media so far.

Source: Iran Human Rights, November 24, 2017


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
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Location: Tabriz, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran

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Georgia executes Ray Jefferson Cromartie

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A man convicted of killing a Georgia convenience store clerk 25 years ago was put to death late Wednesday night, authorities said. 
Inmate Ray Jefferson Cromartie, 52, was pronounced dead at 10:59 p.m. Wednesday after an injection of pentobarbital at the state prison in Jackson, authorities said in an emailed statement. 
Cromartie was convicted and sentenced to die for the April 1994 slaying of Richard Slysz at a convenience store in Thomasville, near the Georgia-Florida line. 
The state said Cromartie had also shot and gravely wounded another convenience store clerk days before the killing. 
Cromartie, when asked if he had any last words, declined to make a statement. He did allow a prayer to be recited on his behalf, however. 
Once the drugs began flowing, the inmate took some deep breaths, exhaling deeply before he went still.
Wednesday's execution came shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court, without explanation, rejected an 11th-hour appeal by the inmate's attorneys. 
Croma…
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Parents face execution in Singapore for killing their five-year-old son by pouring boiling water over him

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Azlin Arujunah and Ridzuan Mega Rahman, both 27, allegedly subjected their five-year-old boy to a waking nightmare of repeated torture and abuse 
A couple who allegedly killed their five-year-old boy by pouring boiling water over him three years ago began their trial on Tuesday at Singapore's High Court.
Azlin Arujunah and Ridzuan Mega Abdul Rahman, both 27, were in the dock today facing charges of murder, which dictates a mandatory death penalty, or life imprisonment with caning. 
Prosecutors said Azlin, the boy's mother, and Ridzuan, his father, caged the five-year-old in a cat box and tortured him with heated spoons and pliers for months before he died. 
His death was caused by blows to the head and a deluge of 198F water poured over his back and calves.
In court, the prosecution's first witness, Associate Professor Loh Tsee Foong, recounted the injuries the boy presented at the hospital.
Among the list of horrors were second to third degree burns, which covered 75 per …
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Texas: Rodney Reed granted indefinite stay of execution

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Stay of execution came just hours after parole board unanimously recommended 120-day reprieve
The Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed was granted a stay of execution on Friday, 5 days before he was scheduled to be put to death for a murder he insists he did not commit.
The Texas court of criminal appeals blocked the execution indefinitely and sent the case back to the trial court in Bastrop county, where Reed was sentenced in 1998 for the murder of Stacey Stites two years earlier.
The court had previously rejected multiple appeals, but Reed’s lawyers argued that fresh evidence bolstered his claim of innocence. 
They said in a statement that they “are extremely relieved and thankful … this opportunity will allow for proper consideration of the powerful and mounting new evidence of Mr Reed’s innocence”.
Millions of people, including a clutch of celebrities, have rallied behind Reed’s cause, helping to generate momentum and public attention as the execution date of 20 November loomed an…
Read more

Texas: Gov. Abbott should grant death row inmate Rodney Reed a reprieve, before it’s too late

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Convicted murderer Rodney Reed is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Nov. 20, but Gov. Greg Abbott has the power to stop it.
As it stands, there’s no indication that Abbott will. He has only stopped one execution since becoming governor 5 years ago.
Reed was sentenced to death in 1998, after being convicted of the brutal 1996 rape and killing of a 19-year-old woman from central Texas, Stacey Stites. And though the governor has yet to weigh in on this specific case, he supports capital punishment, as do most voters in the state. According to a June 2018 poll from the University of Texas/Texas Tribune, fully three-fourths of Texans strongly or somewhat support the death penalty.
But the question at hand has nothing to do with the death penalty, per se. Granting a reprieve would simply be the right thing to do — and a necessary precaution against the doubts that would linger, if Reed is executed as scheduled.
Reed has consistently maintained his innocence, and legitimate questions …
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Albert Pierrepoint: El Verdugo Más Famoso De Inglaterra

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Albert Pierrepoint trabajó la mayor parte de su vida como dependiente en una verdulería y en un bar de su propiedad. Pero fue su otro trabajo, el que realizaba de manera eventual y sin un cargo oficial, el que lo hizo pasar a la historia.
Pierrepoint fue el verdugo más prolífico del Reino Unido: ejecutó a más de 400 personas, lo que le llevó a ser considerado por el gobierno inglés “el verdugo más eficiente”, aunque con el tiempo Pierrepoint se volvió un férreo crítico de la pena de muerte.
Durante 24 años este ejecutor repitió una misma rutina. Miraba fijamente a los condenados, después los inmovilizaba de pies y manos, para luego cubrir su rostro con una capucha.
Finalmente, rodeaba su cuello con la soga y accionaba la trampa que ponía fin a la vida del condenado. Tras la ejecución, inspeccionaba la herida y registraba todo en su diario.
La limpieza y eficacia de su trabajo fue legendaria, tanto que…
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Utah: Death Row Inmate Ron Lafferty Dies Of Natural Causes

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After more than three decades on death row, Utah inmate Ron Lafferty died in prison Monday of natural causes.
Lafferty was convicted in the 1984 killings of his sister-in-law Brenda Lafferty and her 15-month-old daughter Erica.
The religious-motivated murders were featured in the Jon Krakauer book “Under the Banner of Heaven.” Lafferty’s brother, Dan Lafferty, is serving life in prison for helping carry out the killings.
Lafferty was likely only months away from being executed after an appeals court rejected his latest appeal in August. And the 78-year-old’s execution had not yet been scheduled. He had chosen to be executed by firing squad.
“Our family is grateful to everyone involved in this lengthy process,” Brenda Lafferty’s sister, Sharon Wright Weeks, wrote in a message Monday.
Attorney Therese Day described her client as a “mentally ill man” who did not receive proper treatment.
“Mr. Lafferty believed his incarceration and conviction were the result of a conspiracy between the …
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Ohio: Judge sentences man to death for killing Garfield Heights siblings in front of their mother

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Convicted killer seen laughing during prosecutor’s closing arguments
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The man convicted of killing his then-girlfriend’s children was sentenced to death on Wednesday afternoon.
Judge Timothy McCormick followed the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Matthew Nicholson to the death penalty at Wednesday’s Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas hearing.
Judge McCormick took into consideration the jury’s death penalty recommendation and statements from the victims’ family before delivering his sentence.
The judge even called Nicholson a coward during sentencing on Wednesday.
According to investigators, Nicholson shot 17-year-old Manuel Lopez eight times and his sister, 19-year-old Giselle Lopez, four times in front of their mother following an argument in September 2018. 
Manuel attempted to break up the fight between Nicholson and his 44-year-old ex-girlfriend, but he ended up firing his weapon, hitting both murder victims as they attempted to run away.
“There can b…
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Thailand: American escapee pronounced dead

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Fled Pattaya court to avoid trial on drug charge
An American facing drug charges who shot himself and his Thai wife to avoid arrest after fleeing from Pattaya court last week was pronounced dead on Thursday.
Dr Puwadol Kittiwattanasarn, the Sakaeo Crown Prince Hospital director, said Bart Allen Helmus, 39, had been on life support since he was admitted and was pronounced dead at 6pm on Thursday.
His Thai wife, Sirinapa Wisetrit, 30, was now in police custody, he said.
Helmus, Ms Sirinapa and a third defendant, Noi Nilthes, fled from Pattaya Court on Nov 6 with the help of outside friends. 
The fugitives were tracked to Watthana Nakhon district in Sa Kaeo province.
Mr Noi turned himself in to police, but Helmus shot himself and his wife when police moved in to arrest them at a plantation.
Pol Col Pirom Chantharapirom, the Muang police station chief of Sa Kaeo, said the United States embassy was notifying Helmus’s family of his death.
Helmus and his wife were in court on charges of poss…
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Georgia: As execution nears, co-defendant says Cromartie likely isn't killer

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A co-defendant of Georgia death row inmate Ray "Jeff" Cromartie, sentenced to be executed for murder, said recently he had no idea who pulled the trigger.
With the planned execution just one day away, co-defendant Thad Lucas says he's been keeping a secret the past 25 years that makes him believe Cromartie most likely wasn't the gunman.
"I keep hearing that Jeff Cromartie is the shooter and I know that is probably not true," Lucas wrote in an affidavit released Monday, claiming he overheard a third defendant confess to the shooting. 
Lucas was the getaway driver for the 1994 store robbery turned shooting in South Georgia. He and the third defendant, Corey Clark, testified for the state, avoiding the death penalty and murder charges.
At the time, Clark testified that Cromartie was the gunman. Cromartie said it was Clark.
Now Lucas, who is Cromartie's half-brother, says he overheard Clark confess to the crime. He said he didn't come forward before no…
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Jury recommends execution for Marine vet who ambushed and killed 2 Florida police officers

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Everett Glenn Miller should be executed for killing two Kissimmee, Florida police officers, a jury unanimously recommended Wednesday.
The 12-member jury deliberated for five-and-a-half hours at the Osceola County Courthouse before deciding the Marine Corps veteran should be sentenced to death for fatally shooting Sgt. Richard "Sam" Howard, 36, and Officer Matthew Baxter, 26.
Miller showed no visible emotion as the verdict was read, and his family did not comment after the recommendation was announced. The families and friends of Howard and Baxter silently wiped away tears.
The same jury found Miller, 48, guilty of first-degree murder on Sept. 11 in the 2017 killings. 
Outside the courthouse, Baxter's widow, Sadia Baxter, said "justice was served" with the jury's decision.
"Me and my girls will be able to move forward," Baxter said, her voice shaking. "We won't forget about our heroes. But I think it's time as we came to this conclusi…
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