Death Penalty News

Iran has begun to strictly enforce its new espionage law in an environment of rising tensions; Judiciary Spokesman Asghar Jahangir stated that even sharing photos and videos containing information with the U.S. and Israel would be considered "collaboration with the enemy" and that this crime would be punishable by death. People accused of spying or cooperating with “hostile states” could face the death penalty and confiscation of all assets under a recently enhanced law, an Iranian judiciary spokesperson says, a month into the war with the United States and Israel. Under the law accepted and expanded in scope last October, sharing photos or videos of "damaged areas" is also considered a crime. The spokesperson argued that such content confirms the accuracy of targets, stating, "These images inform the enemy that the target has been accurately hit. Providing such information is equivalent to collaborating with the enemy in the field of intelligence." Irania...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s parliament on Monday passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, a measure that has been harshly condemned by the international community and rights groups as discriminatory and inhumane. The passage of the bill marked the culmination of a years-long drive by the far-right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offenses against Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the Knesset to vote for the bill in person. The law makes the death penalty — by hanging — the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of nationalistic killings. It also gives Israeli courts the option of imposing the death penalty on Israeli citizens convicted on similar charges — language that legal experts say effectively confines those who can be sentenced to death to Palestinian citizens of Israel and excludes Jewish citizens.

The Knesset is set to vote on the far-right Otzma Yehudit party’s controversial bill to legislate the death penalty for terrorists in its second and third readings. The bill is likely to be passed despite reported pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Otzma Yehudit chair to withdraw the bill. It is among a series of last-minute laws that the coalition is trying to advance prior to the end of the current Knesset legislative session tomorrow and the beginning of the Knesset’s Passover recess.

In a prison in Arizona, a tiny vial is kept in a refrigerator. Or there was—the precise state of what’s inside is still up for debate. The contents may have expired, according to a retired judge looking into the state’s execution procedures. They would not expire, according to prison officials. This could not be independently verified by anyone outside the prison. Pentobarbital sodium is the drug in question, and the fact that its storage conditions in a correctional facility are now the focus of legal investigation indicates how far this specific compound has deviated from its intended use.

BOISE, Idaho — Faith leaders, community advocates and relatives of a person executed by firing squad are joining national advocacy groups to protest firms involved in constructing Idaho’s execution chamber, as states increasingly turn to alternative methods amid lethal injection drug shortages. Due to the refusal of pharmaceutical companies, especially in the past decade, many states have had to find alternative methods because of extensive shortages of lethal injection drugs. Further, this has led the state of Idaho to pass legislation authorizing execution by firing squad, which is one of the most aggressive among alternative methods.

Law is, as legal scholars and commentators have long recognized , both a refuge for those seeking to escape abuses of power and a trap in which their claims of justice get lost in a maze of statutory intricacies. Nowhere has this been more clearly on display than in the world of capital punishment. Over the span of half a century, the Supreme Court has gone from championing the rights of capital defendants and death row inmates to deflecting and denying their pursuit of justice. Where once the court carefully scrutinized procedures used in death cases, insisting that they had to conform to the dictates of so-called super due process , today it has made the due process accorded in those cases not super at all .

Kyrgyzstan has reaffirmed its commitment to human rights and the rule of law after its Constitutional Court rejected a proposal to reinstate the death penalty, despite strong public outrage following a tragic crime. The proposal emerged after the rape and murder of a young girl in September 2025 sparked nationwide anger and calls for stricter punishment. Responding to public sentiment, President Sadyr Japarov had submitted an amendment seeking to assess whether capital punishment could be reintroduced. However, on December 10, the Constitutional Court ruled that reinstating the death penalty would violate Kyrgyzstan’s international treaty obligations and declared the proposal unconstitutional.

Singapore’s Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Mustaqim bin Abdul Kadir, who was convicted of trafficking a capital quantity of drugs to justify a death penalty. The court ruled that his attempt to introduce fresh psychiatric evidence amounted to an “abuse of process”. In its judgement text released on Tuesday (24 March), the Court of Appeal upheld both his conviction and sentence. They found no merit in his arguments, calling his account “self-interested” and inconsistent.

PHOENIX -- A May 20 execution has been scheduled for an Arizona man convicted of murder for fatally setting a man on fire during a 2002 attack, marking what would be the state’s first use of the death penalty this year. The Arizona Supreme Court on Thursday issued a warrant to execute 63-year-old Leroy Dean McGill, who was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Charles Perez. Authorities said McGill threw a cup of gasoline and a lit match at Perez and another person, Nova Banta, as they were sitting on a sofa in an apartment in north Phoenix.

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — The execution of a former Florida police officer convicted of raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl was temporarily halted Thursday by the Florida Supreme Court. The court issued a stay in execution for 68-year-old James Aren Duckett, who was scheduled to receive a three-drug injection Tuesday at Florida State Prison near Starke. Duckett was sentenced to death in 1988 after being convicted of first-degree murder and sexual battery.

Leroy Dean McGill was sentenced to death for a 2002 gasoline attack in North Phoenix against a couple, Charles Perez and Nova Banta. PHOENIX — Attorneys for Arizona death row inmate Leroy Dean McGill have formally challenged the state’s attempt to secure an execution warrant, citing a catastrophic 2025 cyberattack and a long history of troubled lethal injection protocols. The challenge comes as Arizona seeks to resume capital punishment following a year-long hiatus. If the Arizona Supreme Court grants the state’s request, McGill would become the first person executed in the state since 2024.

LAHORE, Pakistan (Christian Daily International–Morning Star News) – Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are facing renewed criticism as a Christian charged in a high-profile case awaits a verdict that could carry the death penalty. The case against Ishtiaq Saleem underscores growing concerns about false blasphemy accusations by organized networks and the risks to religious minorities, according to ADF International, a Christian legal advocacy group supporting the accused’s defense through allied lawyers in Pakistan. “Blasphemy laws create a culture of violence and discrimination and must be repealed,” said Tehmina Arora, director of advocacy for Asia at ADF International, in a press statement. “Ishtiaq must be freed, and Pakistan must move toward a culture that respects and protects religious freedom for all.”

The Israeli Knesset’s National Security Committee has approved a bill that stipulates capital punishment for those convicted of fatal "terrorist acts." Key provisions include execution by hanging within 90 days and the removal of the requirement for a unanimous judicial vote. The bill faces its final parliamentary votes next week. JERUSALEM — An Israeli parliamentary committee on Tuesday cleared a controversial bill that would establish the death penalty for individuals convicted of fatal acts of terrorism, moving the legislation toward a final vote in the Knesset. The National Security Committee approved the draft following a series of heated deliberations. The bill, sponsored by MK Limor Son Har-Melech of the Otzma Yehudit party, is scheduled for its second and third readings next week. If passed, it would mark the first time Israel has established a specific framework for capital punishment for terror-related homicides. Under the proposed law, the penalty would apply to an...

A former Alabama death row inmate is seeking a new trial after finding evidence that his trial attorney was affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. Robin "Rocky" Myers, whose death sentence was commuted to life in prison by Gov. Kay Ivey last year, says in his appeal that John Mays, who represented him at his trial for the murder of Ludi Mae Tucker in 1991, did work for KKK officials in the 1970s and '80s and spoke at their events. "In violation of his right to the assistance of conflict-free counsel, Mr. Myers, a Black man, was represented at trial by John Mays, who had demonstrably deep ties with the Klan for two decades leading up to this representation of Mr. Myers," said the appeal, filed in Morgan County Circuit Court.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from longtime Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed who has sought to test crime-scene evidence that he says will help clear him. The justices left in place a ruling against Reed from the federal appeals court in New Orleans for the second time in less than three years. The three liberal justices dissented. Reed was sentenced to death for the 1996 killing of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. Prosecutors have refused to allow for DNA testing of the webbed belt that was used to strangle Stites as she made her way to work at a supermarket in Bastrop, a rural community about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Austin.

The Knesset National Security Committee is expected to wrap up deliberations on a controversial bill that would mandate the death penalty for terror convicts and send it to the full Knesset for its final two readings before becoming law, a spokesperson tells The Times of Israel. “There is still work being done in the committee,” the spokesperson says. That work includes revisions to the bill, but “the intention is to complete preparation of the bill in the committee this week and transfer it to the plenum.” Haaretz reported earlier today that the committee is hoping to send the bill to the plenum as early as next week.

Billy Kearse was the third Florida execution this year, after a record 19 in 2025. He killed Fort Pierce cop Danny Parrish in 1991. Billy Leon Kearse spent 29 years on death row for killing Fort Pierce police Sgt. Danny Parrish in 1991 — and the case likely cost taxpayers over $1 million or potentially much more. Before Kearse’s execution on March 3 , his various appeals over the decades may have racked up legal fees, but research shows the cost of capital punishment outpaces that of life imprisonment sentences. 

Iranian LGBT activist now living as a refugee in Spain. He was sentenced to death by the ayatollah regime for being homosexual and for his support campaign for the community. "The enemy was already at home," he says about the current war In 11 countries around the world, homosexuality is punishable by death - it is criminalized in almost 70 countries. One of them is the Islamic Republic of Iran, from where Ramtin Zigorat (Tabriz, 1988) managed to escape after avoiding a death sentence and enduring the worst tortures. He has been living as a refugee in Spain for six and a half years. Question . His life, his testimony, can help us better understand what the Iranian Islamist regime is. I believe that until adolescence, you did not fully understand that you were homosexual.

LAS VEGAS — A man who once stood as the youngest person on Nevada’s death row has officially transitioned from a life behind bars to a life under supervision, following his release from High Desert State Prison last month. Edward Michael Domingues, 49, was released on parole on Feb. 13, 2026. His freedom marks the end of 32 consecutive years of incarceration for the 1993 murders of Arjin Chanel Pechpho and her 4-year-old son, Jonathan Smith. Since his release, the case has ignited a renewed debate over Nevada’s victim notification systems. Tawin Eshelman, the mother and grandmother of the victims, confirmed that the family was never formally notified of the parole hearing that led to Domingues' freedom.

TAIWAN’S OLDEST DEATH ROW prisoner, Wang Xin-fu, has been denied a retrial by the Supreme Court. This occurs despite the fact that Wang has consistently maintained his innocence and, in fact, did not commit the murders for which he is on death row. In particular, Wang was sentenced to capital punishment in 2006 over the killing of two police officers at a karaoke bar in 1990. The shooting was committed by Chen Rong-jie, who was then 19. Wang was accused of ordering the hit. It is believed that Wang’s confession of guilt was extracted through torture and intimidation.

TOKYO—People whose lives were upended by the 1995 deadly nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by the Aum Shinrikyo cult marked the 31st anniversary on Friday, with their pain still unhealed despite growing worries about public memory of the event fading. Shizue Takahashi, who lost her husband, then a deputy stationmaster at Kasumigaseki Station, was among those who offered flowers and prayers. Station staff observed a moment of silence at around 8 a.m., when the worst terrorist attack on Japan occurred during the morning rush hour. "People who lost their family members as well as survivors continue to suffer to this date. Even after more than 30 years, the horror (of the attack) lingers," the 79-year-old said.

In his complaint, Michael Wade Nance said his veins were so severely compromised that they were likely to blow and cause him to suffer “excruciating pain” during the execution. ATLANTA (CN) — A panel for the 11th Circuit on Thursday upheld a judge’s ruling against a death row inmate who sought an execution by a firing squad instead of lethal injection. The decision paves the way for the state’s long-awaited execution of Michael Wade Nance, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death over 25 years ago. In a unanimous opinion, the circuit judges agreed with a federal judge’s conclusion that Nance failed to prove lethal injection was likely to cause him an unconstitutional level of pain or discomfort.

Youth crackdown follows arrest, but young North Koreans say South Korean songs understand them better than the state does When a Ministry of State Security agent stopped a young man in a Hyesan alley in mid-February 2026 and demanded to know why he was listening to “rotten South Korean music,” he likely expected contrition. He did not get it. The man cited the lyrics back at him, word for word, and explained precisely why they resonated. The agent filed a report. The case went to the city party committee. A citywide ideological lecture followed.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); 19 March 2026: State media reported the executions of protesters Saleh Mohammadi, Saeed Davodi and Mehdi Ghasemi who were accused of participating in the murders of two policemen during protests in Qom on 8 January 2026. The executions were carried out “in the presence of a group of people in Qom.” The three protesters are the first to be hanged in relation to the December 2025/January 2026 nationwide protests. Condemning the executions in the strongest terms, IHRNGO warns about the danger of the mass execution of protesters and political prisoners in the coming weeks.

In his appeal, James Broadnax, who wants a new trial, included a signed confession by his cousin saying he committed the 2008 Garland murders. With just 42 days remaining until his scheduled execution by lethal injection on April 30, 2026, in Huntsville, Texas death row inmate James Broadnax, 37, filed a new appeal Thursday with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, seeking to stay the date, remand his case for a new trial, and ultimately vacate his death sentence for the 2008 capital murders of music producers Stephen Swan, 26, and Matthew Butler, 28, outside their Zion Gate Records studio in Garland. A fabricated story The appeal centers on a signed written declaration from Broadnax's cousin and codefendant, Demarius Cummings, 37—dated March 11 and obtained by media outlets in which Cummings confesses that he alone planned the June 19, 2008, robbery, obtained the pistol used in the crime, and fired the fatal shots during the botched holdup that netted only $2 in cash and a 1995 Fo...

Iran executed three men on Thursday who were accused of killing police officers during protests in January, with activists warning of the risk of a new surge in hangings as war rages with Israel and the United States. They were the first hangings Iran has carried out related to the nationwide demonstrations that were met with a brutal crackdown by the authorities. Rights groups said the trio, who included a teenager who had taken part in international wrestling competitions, were executed without a fair trial and had given confessions under torture.

A Lincoln County man pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of murder in the killings of his father and uncle, forgoing a trial where he planned to argue that years of childhood sexual abuse by the victims contributed to his actions. Brandon Mullins, 27, of Eubank, Ky., entered the plea in Lincoln Circuit Court as part of an agreement with prosecutors. He will serve 40 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced in April. The bodies of Mullins' father, Dennis “Ed” Mullins, 57, and uncle, Anthony Mullins, 55, were discovered inside a trailer on Sandidge Spur Road in Eubank in what authorities described as a double homicide. Mullins faced additional charges including tampering with physical evidence.

The proposal, aligned with President Trump’s executive order, would ease certification requirements and make approvals permanent for qualifying states WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice is proposing a rule aimed at speeding up the federal review process in state death penalty cases — a move officials say could significantly shorten the time between conviction and execution. Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced the proposal on March 17 , describing it as part of a broader effort to streamline capital case proceedings and reduce delays that can stretch on for years.

Iran has reportedly carried out the execution of a man it accused of espionage for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. The man was executed on Wednesday, March 18, marking the first such death penalty carried out since the outbreak of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Tehran. Sweden confirmed the executed individual held Swedish citizenship, prompting sharp condemnation from Stockholm and a diplomatic summons for Iran’s ambassador.

The executed man was arrested in June 2025. A Swedish citizen was executed in Iran on Wednesday, according to a statement released by Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard. “It is with dismay that I have received information that a Swedish citizen has been executed in Iran earlier today,” Stenergard wrote, adding “the responsibility for this rests solely with Iran.” The executed man, who has not been named, was arrested in June 2025 according to the Foreign Ministry.

Egypt’s Court of Cassation issued a final and irrevocable ruling on Sunday upholding the death sentence for Karim Selim, known as the “Tagamoa killer,” for murdering 3 women and disposing their bodies in desert areas.  The court based its decision on the proven material and moral elements of the crimes attributed to the defendant, which include premeditated murder, desecration of the bodies, human trafficking, and possession of narcotics.  During his arguments before the Court of Cassation, the defendant’s lawyers insisted on overturning the earlier verdict and requesting a retrial, citing arguments related to his client’s mental instability.

Christian sanitation worker falsely accused under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and imprisoned for over 3 years could receive the death penalty ISLAMABAD (10 March 2026) – A Pakistani Christian father accused under the country’s draconian blasphemy laws is awaiting a potential death penalty verdict in a case that raises serious concerns about religious freedom and the exploitation of blasphemy accusations by organized networks.  The trial proceedings concerning Pakistani Christian Ishtiaq Saleem have reached a critical stage, with the court completing hearings relating to false blasphemy-charges against Saleem, while proceedings continue for his co-accused. 

OSAKA – The Osaka High Court ruled Tuesday that a defendant's withdrawal of his appeal against a death sentence in the Kyoto Animation arson-murder case is valid. Shinji Aoba, 47, was sentenced to death by the Kyoto District Court in January 2024 and appealed the sentence the following month.  However, he retracted the appeal in January 2025. His lawyers then filed an appeal with the high court to contest the validity of his decision , claiming that a death sentence should not be made final on impulse. In Tuesday's ruling, presiding Judge Hisashi Ito said that Aoba clearly understood the meaning of his decision.

Iran has executed a man identified as Kourosh Keyvani after convicting him of espionage for Israel, according to reports by the judiciary-linked Mizan news agency. Mizan said Keyvani was executed on Wednesday morning after his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court. He had been accused of passing “images and information of sensitive locations” to officers of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. The report said Keyvani was arrested in Savojbolagh on the fourth day of the 12-day war in June. Authorities said the case had gone through legal procedures, but no independent evidence supporting the allegations was made public.

Killer of stay-at-home mom whose death led to 911 reform is executed Michael King kidnapped Denise Amber Lee from her Florida home in broad daylight in 2008. If it weren't for a botched 911 call, Lee may have survived the ordeal.  Florida has executed a death row inmate for the rape and murder of a stay-at-home mom whose death exposed the vulnerabilities of the 911 system nationwide and led to reform within the industry.  Michael King, 54, was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, March 17, for the kidnapping, rape and murder of 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee. King abducted the married mother of 2 young sons from her home in broad daylight on Jan. 17, 2008, less than an hour before Lee's husband returned from work. 

A district court in eastern Japan has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for killing a family of three four years ago. The defendant, 43-year-old Saito Jun, was charged with using an axe to kill William Bishop Jr., a 69-year-old US national, his 68-year old wife, Morita Izumi, and their 32-year-old daughter, Morita Sophianna Megumi in December, 2022. The daughter had been visiting their home in Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture. Prosecutors sought a death sentence, claiming he could be held fully responsible. But the defense argued the court should cautiously judge whether he is indeed the perpetrator, and should he be found guilty, he could not be held criminally responsible due to mental illness.

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Florida is preparing to carry out its fourth execution of the year as advocates against the death penalty warn about what they call a record pace of executions in the state. Fifty-four-year-old Michael King is scheduled to be executed Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison for the 2008 rape and murder of Denise Amber Lee. King will become the 32nd person to be executed under Governor Ron DeSantis. Advocates with the Tampa-based nonprofit Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty say the growing number of executions in Florida is concerning.

A man convicted of the 1990 murder of his neighbor while burglarizing her home is scheduled to be the 6th person executed in Florida this year. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday, March 13, issued a death warrant for Chadwick Willacy, 58.  Willacy was in Marlys Sather's home when she arrived home from work unexpectedly. He struck her several times, tied her up, attempted to strangle her, and then set the house on fire after removing the smoke detectors and dousing her with gasoline, prosecutors said. Willacy's record to that point included some minor offenses in New York and Florida, mostly drug-related.

Alabama governor commuted death sentence of Charles Burton, 75, who didn't kill anyone An Alabama man who was outside a building when a man was killed in an armed robbery is looking at life as "a gift from God" after being granted clemency by the state’s governor just days before he was scheduled to be executed.  Charles "Sonny" Burton, 75, was sentenced to death for his role in the robbery of a Talladega AutoZone store that left a man dead in 1991.  While Burton left the store before Derrick DeBruce gunned down customer Doug Battle, he was tried and convicted as an accomplice, with prosecutors insisting Burton acted as the group’s leader in the armed robbery.