Death Penalty News

A group of federal inmates who were resentenced under the Biden administration filed a lawsuit trying to stop their move to a high-security Colorado prison. A federal judge has denied a legal attempt, for now, to prevent the U.S. government from transferring death row inmates whose sentences were commuted by then-President Joe Biden to the "Supermax" in Colorado, the highest-security federal prison in the country. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly in Washington, D.C., ruled Tuesday against issuing a preliminary injunction requested in a lawsuit brought by 21 of the 37 former death row inmates , all of whom saw their sentences changed to life without parole in December. "The Court cannot grant that relief — at least not now," Kelly wrote in his opinion, saying that the plaintiffs must first exhaust their administrative appeals within the federal Bureau of Prisons' transfer process. The decision comes as the BOP has said it would not transfer any of the plaintiff...

Idaho's state prison system has suspended all executions and execution-related procedures, including lethal injection, at least until the end of 2025. This suspension is due to the upcoming transition to firing squad executions as the state's primary method of capital punishment, a change that necessitates significant renovations to the execution chamber at the maximum-security prison.  The new law prioritizing the controversial firing squad method is set to take effect in July 2026.

On May 1, Jeffrey Hutchinson, a Gulf War vet­er­an, was exe­cut­ed in Florida for the mur­ders of his girl­friend and her three young chil­dren. As he fought behind ene­my lines in some of the most dan­ger­ous regions on earth, bombs rat­tled and nerve gas cor­rod­ed his brain, caus­ing per­ma­nent dam­age that would con­tribute to the tragedy just a few years lat­er. ​“His mind was a casu­al­ty, just like any limb lost in com­bat,” a group of 129 mil­i­tary vet­er­ans wrote in a let­ter urg­ing Gov. Ron DeSantis to halt the exe­cu­tion. But no fed­er­al court ever con­sid­ered whether Mr. Hutchinson’s life should be spared because of the phys­i­cal and men­tal trau­ma he suf­fered in the mil­i­tary. His fed­er­al appeals were dis­missed not because they did not have mer­it, but because his attor­neys mis­cal­cu­lat­ed a filing deadline.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 30, 2025: Aziz Sedaghat, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Rasht Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged Rasht (Lakan) Central Prison on 27 May 2025. His identity has been established as Aziz Ssedaghat, a 40-year-old man from Gorgan. He was arrested three years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 29, 2025: Ten men including an Afghan national and four Kurdish minorities were hanged in two group hangings in Ghezel Hesar Prison on Monday and Wednesday. Farman Koushaki, Yashar Jafari, Akbar Ebrahimi, Hojat Havasizadeh, Abbas Laki, Majid Bahrami, Afshin Ezati, Amirhossein Mohammadi and two unidentified men were hanged for drug-related, murder and rape charges in separate cases.  According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, five men including an Afghan national and two Kurdish minorities were hanged in Ghezelhesar Prison on 26 May 2025.

For six years, authorities of the Islamic Republic assured Pedram Madani and his family that silence would save his life. They promised the 41-year-old software engineer that his espionage case was being resolved. They told his mother, a retired teacher, that speaking out publicly would guarantee his execution. On May 28, Iran executed Madani anyway. Madani, who specialized in artificial intelligence, was arrested in 2019 on charges of spying for Israel.

A 42-year-old Korean man has been sentenced to death in Vietnam for killing his own father, who had traveled to the country to mediate a marital dispute.   According to a report by VN Express on Wednesday, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court handed down the death penalty to the 42-year-old man for premeditated murder.   The man physically assaulted his wife and killed their pet dog at his apartment in Ho Chi Minh City on March 10 last year. His wife fled the home with their two young children and informed her father-in-law in Korea about the incident.

OKLAHOMA CITY — People convicted of sex offenses against children can be sentenced to death or life without parole on their first offense under a new law signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt.  Senate Bill 599, authored by Sen. Warren Hamilton, R-McCurtain, allows prosecutors to pursue the death penalty for the rape of a child under 14 for first-time offenders.  Under existing law, the offender must have been previously convicted of the sex crime to be eligible for the death penalty.  For lewd molestation against a child under the age of 12, an offender can receive the death penalty, a sentence of at least 10 years or life or life without parole. The law currently requires a sentence of at least 25 years of incarceration.

Spanish law enforcement agencies have informed MHA that they are prosecuting Ong in Spain. Singapore has no jurisdiction over the alleged murder of Audrey Fang committed by Mitchell Ong in Spain, said the Ministry of Home Affairs. In response to Mothership 's queries, MHA said that if Ong was deported to Singapore, he would not be investigated or prosecuted for the alleged murder. This information has been communicated to the Spanish counterparts, and Spanish law enforcement agencies have also informed MHA that they are prosecuting Ong in Spain.

Jordan, a 79-year-old Vietnam War veteran, is scheduled for execution on June 25th for a 1976 kidnapping and murder. Advocates argue that the death penalty is inhumane and does not deter crime, citing Jordan's remorse and exemplary prison record. Jordan has been sentenced to death four times, with his initial sentence reduced to life imprisonment before being reinstated. Executions may be legal in Mississippi but that doesn't make them right, a group of advocates for abolishing the death penalty said during a news conference Wednesday, May 28, on the steps of the state Supreme Court.

Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar believes authorities in the United States should pursue the death penalty against the alleged gunman responsible for last week’s murder of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, he told The Algemeiner on Tuesday. “I think this is an important message that all the antisemitic people should know — that there is a big price to pay if they do these kinds of actions,” Zohar said of his support for pursuing the death penalty against 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez. “I think this is maybe a good idea, to give a very, very hard penalty against this criminal. And I’m hoping that a strong action against him — or maybe against people that supported him or sent him to do that — will deliver a message that people should avoid this antisemitic way in the future.”

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 27, 2025: Mahmoud Shirvani, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Kahnuj Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Kahnuj Prison on 25 May 2025. His identity has been established as Mahmoud Shirvani who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 27, 2025: State media have reported the public execution of an unnamed man for murder in Delfan. According to ISNA, an unnamed man was publicly hanged in Delfan, Lorestan province, on 27 May 2025. The unnamed man and his co-defendant were arrested for an armed robbery that took place on 12 September 2021 and resulted in a death. As the first defendant, he was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for charges of “armed robbery leading to murder.” No further details have been disclosed.

Pedram Madani was found guilty of ‘spying in favor of the Zionist regime,’ judiciary news outlet says; last month, another alleged Mossad collaborator was executed A man accused of spying for Israel was executed in Iran, according to a report from judiciary news outlet Mizan on Wednesday that named the defendant as Pedram Madani. Arrested in 2020, Madani is said to have attempted to convey classified information to Israel about critical locations in Iran, Mizan said, adding that he was also accused of acquiring wealth by illegal means.

Kaohsiung, May 28 (CNA) Kaohsiung prosecutors on Tuesday sought the death penalty for a man accused of killing and dismembering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was indicted on charges of murder, corpse abandonment and mutilation, theft and unlawful appropriation of property. After reviewing surveillance footage, questioning witnesses and collecting evidence from his home, prosecutors said the 73-year-old is strongly suspected of committing the crimes.

A court on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali has sentenced a British man to 10 months in jail for drug offences after a charge that could carry the death penalty was dropped. Thomas Parker, from Cumbria, was arrested on January 21 at a villa near Kuta beach, a popular tourist spot, after he allegedly collected a package containing drugs from a motorcycle taxi driver on a nearby street. Police officers said Parker was "acting suspiciously" when he collected the package, according to the court document. He allegedly discarded it in a panic and fled when police approached him. He was traced back to the villa where he was staying and arrested.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 25, 2025: Pedram Madani, a man sentenced to death for espionage for Israel, has been transferred from Evin Prison to Ghezel Hesar Prison and is scheduled to be executed within days. Redrawing attention to the current wave of executions in Iran, Iran Human Rights urges the international community to pay special attention to the execution crisis in Iran. IHRNGO Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Death sentences in Iran, especially on charges such as espionage, are issued and carried out without any due process. These executions are extrajudicial killings that the international community should not remain indifferent to.”

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill on Sunday that seeks to prosecute Hamas Oct. 7 terrorists on charges of genocide against the Jewish state. The proposed legislation calls for the creation of a special court with 15 judges who would be tasked with handling criminal trials for individuals facing such charges. The new bill calls for the death penalty as the maximum sentence for those convicted of genocide. The bill was jointly initiated by lawmaker Simcha Rothman, from the Religious Zionism party, and the lawmaker Yulia Malinovsky of the Yisrael Beytenu opposition party. The bill is expected to advance to the Knesset for approval.

TOKYO -- Former Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia, who led Mongolia's abolition of the death penalty during his presidency, has called for open debate on the death penalty in Japan during an interview with the Mainichi Shimbun as part of his visit to the country. Referring to Japan's retention of the death penalty despite an international trend toward abolishing it, Elbegdorj pointed out that if more information is disclosed, public opinion in favor of the death penalty will change and called for transparency in procedures.

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) The Supreme Court has remanded the case of a man sentenced to death for fatally shooting four people in central Taiwan in 2022, amid a tightening of the country's criteria for imposing capital punishment. The court ruled on Monday that the Taiwan High Court must separately assess the sentences for multiple crimes committed by Lee Hung-yuan (李鴻淵), a former employee of Nantou-based biotech contract manufacturer Kang Jian, citing Judgment No. 113-Hsien-Pan-8, issued in September 2024.

Bali police have arrested an Australian man for allegedly trying to smuggle 1.7kg of cocaine into Indonesia. Lamar Ahchee, 43, from Cairns was apprehended by the drug squad in an apartment in Canggu, south Indonesia, last Thursday. Local media Bhinneka Nusantara reported Mr Ahchee allegedly used the postal service to send cocaine from the UK to Bali where it was supposed to be distributed. Police chief inspector General Daniel Adityajaya told media two packages were sent from England on April 12 to addresses in North Kuta and Badung Regency.

The Rev. Jeff Hood, a noted anti-death penalty activist and death row spiritual advisor based in Arkansas, has witnessed nine executions in various states. As part of his duties as spiritual advisor, Hood can join inmates in the execution chamber during their last moments on Earth. When the Rev. Jeff Hood walked into Oklahoma's execution chamber, he found his friend Emmanuel Littlejohn already strapped to a gurney, moments away from death. When Hood pulled out some anointing oil to bless Littlejohn one last time, the condemned man offered a brief moment of levity in the grim environment.

Yesterday, Thursday May 22, Governor DeSantis signed HB 693: Aggravating Factors for Capital Felonies into law. This legislation unnecessarily expands Florida’s death penalty by adding an aggravating factor for sentencing for capital felonies if a victim of the capital felony was gathered with one or more persons for a school activity, religious activity, or public government meeting. The new law would necessitate the “double counting” of aggravating factors, a violation of fair sentencing principles.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 23, 2025: Saeed Kashani, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Hamedan Central Prison. Another man named Bakhtiar Lotfi was returned to his cell after obtaining a one-month extension in his case. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Hamedan Central Prison on 21 May 2025. His identity has been established as Saeed Kashani who was arrested four years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. Saeed was transferred for execution with another death row prisoner named Bakhtiar Lotfi who was returned to his cell after obtaining a one-month extension in his case.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS12) — Nearly two decades after a Palm Beach County family was executed along the side of Florida’s Turnpike, state prosecutors are seeking to reimpose the death penalty on the two men convicted of the killings. The effort comes after former President Joe Biden commuted their federal death sentences in the final days of his administration. In the waning days of his presidency, Biden commuted the death penalty sentences against nearly all federal inmates on death row, including two men condemned for a quadruple killing in St. Lucie County. The move sparked an uproar from law enforcement nationwide.

Dubai: A 28-year-old Kuwaiti man is currently on trial in Kuwait's Criminal Court, facing charges of fatally stabbing his mother and seriously injuring his 10-year-old brother in the Sabah Al Salem district. The accused has confessed, stating that he was under the influence of crystal meth at the time of the attack. He claimed he assaulted his mother after she refused to give him money to buy more drugs. According to his statement, the refusal "drove him crazy," prompting the fatal stabbing. When his younger brother witnessed the attack, the accused allegedly turned the knife on him, inflicting serious injuries.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 22, 2025: Yousef Esmaili, a Kurdish man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Bandarabbas Central Prison. ccording to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Bandarabbas Central Prison on 20 May 2025. His identity has been established as Yousef Esmaili, a 38-year-old Kurdish father of two from Sardasht. He was arrested four years ago and sentenced to death on charges of carrying and buying acid (LSD).

Benjamin Ritchie’s exe­cu­tion in Indiana on May 20, 2025, has raised new con­cerns about the use of pen­to­bar­bi­tal after defense coun­sel report­ed their client dis­played an unusu­al phys­i­cal reac­tion after being inject­ed with the drug. But because Indiana offi­cials bar media wit­ness­es from observ­ing exe­cu­tions, the pub­lic has no inde­pen­dent wit­ness reports on what transpired. Steve Schutte, an attor­ney for Mr. Ritchie, told the Indiana Capital Chronicle that Mr. Ritchie made what appeared to be ​“vio­lent” move­ments, lift­ing his head and shoul­ders abrupt­ly from the gur­ney soon after it is believed the drugs began to flow. 

THE man suspected of shooting dead two Israeli embassy officials in Washington fired 21 shots and reloaded as his wounded victims crawled away, according to court documents. Elias Rodriguez, 31, appeared in court yesterday charged with murder - and could face the death penalty if convicted. The Chicago native was caught on camera unloading several rounds into Yaron Lischinsky, 28, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, after pacing outside the Capital Jewish Museum, according to the arrest affidavit. The pair collapsed after being shot but the gunman continued his onslaught, the document says.

The state of Tennessee has executed Oscar Franklin Smith, sentenced to death for the 1989 killings of his estranged wife Judith Robirds Smith and her two teenage sons, Chad Burnett and Jason Burnett, in Nashville. Smith, 75, was killed by a fatal dose of the drug pentobarbital injected into his veins at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. He was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m. May 22. Smith's execution marks a return to capital punishment in Tennessee after the governor instituted a moratorium on the state's most severe penalty. It had been five years since a Tennessee prisoner died by execution and six years since the state killed someone by lethal injection.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 21, 2025: Abdoljabar Jamalzi, an Afghan national on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Bandarabbas Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Bandarabbas Central Prison on 19 May 2025. His identity has been established as Abdoljabar Jamalzi, a married Afghan man from Bakwah, Farah province in Afghanistan. He was arrested in Roudan county a few years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Taipei, May 22 (CNA) The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) aims to submit a draft bill within three months to increase penalties for child abuse, including the possibility of adding the death penalty for abuse resulting in death. MOJ Deputy Minister Hsu Hsi-hsiang (徐錫祥) mentioned the three-month timeline during a public hearing held by the Legislative Yuan Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, which was attended by children's advocacy groups and legal experts. At the hearing, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) law professor Lin Chih-chieh (林志潔) said the law could be changed to allow the death penalty in child abuse cases that result in death.

A South Carolina death row inmate has said he wants to become his own attorney, a decision that would likely lead to his own execution after his best friend and four fellow inmates were put to death in less than a year. A 45-day delay in James Robertson's request was ordered by a federal judge, allowing time for a different lawyer to talk to him and make sure he really wants to fire his own attorneys. The consequences of his decision are likely to be lethal. The 51-year-old Robertson has been on death row since 1999 after killing both his parents in their Rock Hill home. He beat his father with the claw end of a hammer and a baseball bat and stabbed his mother. He then tried to make it look like a robbery in hopes he would get his part of their $2.2 million estate, prosecutors said.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 20, 2025: Mojtaba Mansouri, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Yazd Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Yazd Central Prison on 18 May 2025. His identity has been established as Mojtaba Mansouri, a 44-year-old man from Ardakan who worked in real estate prior to his arrest. He was arrested three years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

An Alabama death row inmate plans to represent himself in a final appeal of his sentence, weeks before his execution. Gregory Hunt, convicted of the 1998 murder and sexual assault of Karen Lane, will argue that he killed but did not sexually assault Lane, which would reduce his charge from capital murder to murder and make him ineligible for the death penalty. “I think that Greg is at peace no matter what happens,” Pastor Jeff Hood, who works with inmates on Alabama’s death row, said at a news conference on Tuesday. “I think he is prepared to die no matter what happens, but he wants people to know that he is sorry for killing Karen Lane but that he did not sexually assault her.”

Tennessee will execute Oscar Franklin Smith this week while a lawsuit challenging the state’s new lethal injection protocol makes its way through the court system. There was a possibility of the Thursday execution being called off. Anti-death penalty advocates and attorneys for Smith spent weeks asking Gov. Bill Lee to halt capital punishment until the court ruled whether the protocol is constitutional, which could take until at least January 2026.  On Tuesday morning, Smith’s attorneys announced Lee had denied the reprieve. An anonymous executioner will inject Smith, who was convicted of murdering his wife Judith Smith and her two sons Jason Burnett and Chad Burnett in 1989, with a lethal dose of pentobarbital at 10 a.m. He will be the first person in Tennessee put to death using this method.

Texas man is executed 13 years to the day of a store robbery in which he set a clerk on fire  A Texas man was executed Tuesday evening, 13 years to the day of a convenience store robbery in which he set a clerk on fire in a Dallas suburb.  Matthew Lee Johnson, 49, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the May 20, 2012, attack on 76-year-old Nancy Harris, a great-grandmother he splashed with lighter fluid and set ablaze in the suburb of Garland. Badly burned, she died days afterward.

Matthew Lee Johnson is set to be executed in Texas on Tuesday for the death of an elderly woman he set on fire during a convenience store robbery. Johnson, 49, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection after 6 p.m. CDT at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. The Context Johnson was condemned for the 2012 death of 76-year-old Nancy Harris. He poured a bottle of lighter fluid over the great-grandmother, who was working as a cashier, before setting her on fire at a store in Garland, a northeast suburb of Dallas, on May 20, 2012. She was able to describe the suspect before she was taken off life support and died five days later. What To Know Johnson admitted to setting Harris on fire during his 2013 trial. "I hurt an innocent woman. I took a human being's life. I was the cause of that. It was not my intentions to—to kill her or to hurt her, but I did," he said. Johnson said he had not been aware of what he had done because he had been high after smoking $100 worth of crack....