Death Penalty News

45-year-old Australian Simon Peter Carman, accused of murdering 17-year-old Thai citizen Thunchanok Donhomla, said he acted in self-defense. In an interview with ABC News Australia, recorded at Pattaya Remand Prison, he said he had tried to stop the girl, who, according to him, threatened him with a knife. Carman has been in custody for nearly two months and denies all four charges brought against him. They include murder, concealing a body, and abducting a minor for indecent purposes. If found guilty of murder, he could face the death penalty or life imprisonment.

The trial of a man who admitted to suffocating his estranged wife and her 2 young daughters with a plastic bag more than a decade ago began Monday morning with jury selection.  Sandwiched by his attorneys, Alberto Sierra, 42, sat in a navy blue sweater as dozens of prospective jurors shuffled into the largest courtroom in the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building in Miami.  In 2 weeks, hundreds of the jurors will be questioned on their thoughts about the death penalty.  The pool will be whittled down to a 12-person jury that will be tasked with deciding whether Sierra should be condemned to Florida’s death row or sentenced to life in prison. 

AUSTIN, Texas — Nearly three decades after Rodney Reed was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of Stacey Stites, prosecutors and law enforcement officials are urging Texas’ highest criminal court to fully examine new evidence they argue raises serious questions about his conviction before the state carries out an irreversible punishment. Fair and Just Prosecution, joined by the Law Enforcement Action Partnership and 29 current and former prosecutors and law enforcement officials, filed an amicus brief urging the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to fully review new evidence in Reed’s death penalty case, according to an FJP press release.

The former doctoral student pled guilty in 2025 to the murders of four University of Idaho students. A legal expert has called Bryan Kohberger’s attempt to abandon his guilty plea “highly unlikely” to succeed after the convicted killer filed a petition for post-conviction relief in an Idaho court. Kohberger pleaded guilty in 2025 to killing four University of Idaho students, waiving his right to a trial and avoiding a possible death penalty conviction. He received four life sentences in prison. On July 27, Kohberger filed a petition for post-conviction relief in the Ada County District Court. He looks to withdraw his guilty plea and conviction and seeks a trial on the murder charges.

If Bryan Kohberger successfully withdraws his guilty plea and goes to trial for the murders of four University of Idaho students, it could lead to him being sentenced to death, experts told Newsweek . Kohberger, 31, filed a handwritten petition on Monday from the Idaho Maximum Security Penitentiary, where he is serving four consecutive life sentences for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen in a rental home near the university's campus in Moscow, Idaho, in 2022. Kohberger pleaded guilty to the fatal stabbings just over a year ago, a month before jury selection was set to start.

Double execution: 1st of 2 inmates is put to death in Florida Florida has executed James Duckett, a 68-year-old former cop convicted of killing an 11-year-old girl in 1987. The state is set to execute an 80-year-old man 6 hours later for a 1986 murder.  Florida carried out the 1st double execution in more than 60 years, executing former police officer James Duckett and later scheduling the execution of 80‑year‑old Dominick Occhicone, amid Governor Ron DeSantis’s aggressive push to increase death penalties in the state.  Florida has put to death the 1st of 2 inmates in the state's 1st double execution in more than 60 years amid an aggressive death penalty push by Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

Barring a last-hour intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court, two Florida death row inmates will be executed within hours of each other Tuesday at Florida State Prison near Starke. James Aren Duckett, 68, is scheduled to be executed at noon. He has spent more than three decades on death row after being convicted of murdering 11-year-old Teresa McAbee in 1987. Six hours later, Dominick Occhicone is scheduled to be executed after being convicted of a double murder in 1987 of his girlfriend’s parents, Martha and Raymond Artzner. At 80, Occhicone would be the second-oldest man executed since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

Florida is preparing to execute two death row inmates on Tuesday, July 28, in an action that would mark the state’s first double execution in more than 60 years. Former police officer James Duckett, 68, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 12 p.m., followed six hours later by 80-year-old Dominick Occhicone at 6 p.m. If carried out, these will mark the 39th and 40th executions under Gov. Ron DeSantis and the 11th and 12th in the state since the beginning of 2026. In response, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) has launched petition and letter-writing efforts asking DeSantis to halt both procedures. The group has organized two public vigils outside Florida State Prison in Raiford, set for 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., contingent on whether stays are issued.

A Miami-Dade judge sentenced Rafael Andres, a 61-year-old Cuban, to death this Friday for the murder of Ivette Fariñas, a 31-year-old waitress, also Cuban, who worked at the La Carreta restaurant at Miami International Airport, a crime committed two decades ago. According to Telemundo 51, Judge Zachary James of the Miami-Dade Circuit Court followed the jury's recommendation, which voted 9 to 3 in favor of the death penalty last November after reviewing all the evidence in the case. The jury classified the crime as "atrocious, horrifying, or cruel," although they did not conclude that it was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner.

⚠️ Some readers may find the following content distressing LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- A police criminalist testified Thursday that testing on evidence seized from singer D4vd's rented Hollywood Hills home showed a DNA profile consistent with that of a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered remains were found in the front trunk of the entertainer's Tesla. In the third day of a hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to require the 21-year-old singer to stand trial on murder and other charges, Los Angeles Police Department criminalist Samantha Tosch told Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo that DNA collected from apparent blood stains on evidence, including a rowing machine, a green tarp, and a Tesla charger plug discovered in the home's garage were one septillion times—meaning one followed by 24 zeroes—more likely to occur if the DNA was from Celeste Rivas Hernandez than an unknown individual.

In an unprecedented move in the modern history of capital punishment, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday cleared the way for 2 executions to occur on the same day.  DeSantis reset the execution of James Duckett, whose execution earlier this year was stayed amid efforts to secure DNA testing and analysis of evidence in his case.  Duckett’s execution was reset for July 28. That is the same day previously set for the execution of Dominick Occhicone.  Court records indicate that Duckett’s execution is scheduled for noon. Occhicone’s is set to follow at 6 p.m. 

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Attorneys told a judge Tuesday they are ready to go forward with a multi-day hearing later this month for singer D4vd, who is charged with murdering a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in the trunk of his Tesla at a Hollywood tow yard. During the hearing set to begin July 21, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo will determine if there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against the 21-year-old singer—whose real name is David Anthony Burke—to proceed to trial. One of Burke's attorneys, Blair Berk, indicated Tuesday the defense would be ready for the upcoming hearing, following a series of requested postponements.

D4vd secures another court delay in his murder case, pushing the probable cause hearing to July 21 as his legal team reviews mounting evidence. D4vd walked into the Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday in an orange jail uniform and waist shackles, his legal team already preparing for another delay in what’s becoming a pattern of postponements in his murder case. The platinum-selling “Romantic Homicide” singer, 21, received his third hearing delay after his defense team requested additional time to review evidence, pushing the probable cause hearing from June 29 to July 21 with a status conference scheduled for July 7.

Absent court action, Tony Carruthers is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed in Tennessee on May 21, 2026, despite untest­ed DNA evi­dence, an inno­cence claim, and seri­ous men­tal ill­ness con­cerns . On May 18, faith lead­ers, civ­il rights advo­cates and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers marched to the state capi­tol to urge Governor Bill Lee to grant Mr. Carruthers clemen­cy or stay his exe­cu­tion to allow addi­tion­al DNA test­ing, deliv­er­ing a peti­tion with over 130,000 sig­na­tures. Gov. Lee announced on May 19 that he has no plans to inter­vene and stop the exe­cu­tion. Mr. Carruthers’ case has drawn nation­al atten­tion as his sched­uled exe­cu­tion date nears, includ­ing from celebri­ty Kim Kardashian, who urged her 345 mil­lion Instagram fol­low­ers to call Gov. Lee’s office to press for the DNA test­ing, and from Demetrius Minor, the Executive Director of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.

FLORIDA — The Florida Supreme Court has ordered additional DNA analysis in the decades-old death penalty case of James Duckett, a decision that could delay his execution further and renew questions about the conviction. Reporting from the Tampa Bay Times indicates the ruling comes more than a month after Duckett had been scheduled for execution in connection with the 1987 rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee. Previous reporting by the Tampa Bay Times discussed how Duckett was convicted in 1988 in Lake County and has maintained his innocence for decades. The case has drawn increased scrutiny in recent months after a death warrant was issued and later paused amid ongoing disputes over DNA testing that defense attorneys argue could be critical to determining guilt or innocence.

The ACLU is asking state and federal courts to order DNA and fingerprint analysis they say could prove innocence Death row exonerees and innocence advocates are calling on Gov. Bill Lee to halt the May 21 execution of Tony Carruthers to allow for DNA testing on evidence his attorneys said could prove his innocence.  “[DNA] doesn’t take sides,” Tennessee Innocence Project Executive Director Jason Gichner said. “It’s not pro-prosecution, it’s not pro-defense. Law enforcement uses DNA all the time to solve cold cases and at the same time we can use DNA to vindicate innocent people by testing evidence to prove that they didn’t commit the crime.” 

Maybe he was confused. Or scared. But the confession had to be true. Surely Christopher Barbour just got the name wrong and identified the wrong man who raped a Montgomery woman before Barbour stabbed her to death. That’s the theory of the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, which is still insisting on keeping Barbour on death row despite DNA evidence that points to another man. The state’s top prosecutors filed new documents with an appellate court asking to stop a federal judge’s decision to give Barbour a new trial.

Scott Peterson's attorneys said they plan to appeal to a higher court. SAN MATEO, Calif. -- A California judge has denied Scott Peterson's attempt to present new evidence that his attorneys claim exonerates him in the murder of his wife and unborn son. Laci Peterson disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002 when she was eight months pregnant. Her body was found in the San Francisco Bay in April 2003. Scott Peterson, 53, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife and second-degree murder in the death of their unborn son. A jury found him guilty following a six-month trial in 2004.

Saturday April 25th is National DNA Day , mark­ing the anniver­sary of the 1953 dis­cov­ery of DNA’s dou­ble helix struc­ture and the 2003 com­ple­tion of the Human Genome Project. Today, the Death Penalty Information Center is pleased to present a new resource exam­in­ing the con­tro­ver­sial role of ​“junk sci­ence” in cap­i­tal cas­es. When DNA test­ing became one of the most rig­or­ous­ly val­i­dat­ed tools in foren­sic sci­ence, its devel­op­ment also prompt­ed greater scruti­ny of oth­er foren­sic tech­niques. Many dis­ci­plines that were long accept­ed in U.S. court­rooms have now been found to lack ade­quate sci­en­tif­ic foun­da­tion and have become known as ​“junk science.”

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Attorneys for death row inmate Tony Carruthers filed a motion in Shelby County Criminal Court seeking immediate DNA testing on evidence they claim will prove his innocence in a 1994 triple murder.  Carruthers is scheduled for execution on May 12. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murders of 24-year-old Marcellos Anderson, 17-year-old Delois Anderson, and 21-year-old Frederick Scarborough. Prosecutors at trial alleged the victims were buried alive in a Memphis cemetery as part of a drug-related robbery.