Eight death row prisoners to be executed in 10-day killing spree
Criminals including murderers and rapists are to be put to death by the state of Arkansas between April 17 and 27.
Eight death row prisoners are to be executed in a 10-day killing spree ordered by officials in the state of Arkansas.
The eight men, who have all committed crimes such as murder, rape and kidnap, are to be put to death by lethal injection between April 17th and 27th.
The state’s Supreme Court approved the eight executions this week.
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said: "It is past time for the victims' families to see justice for the horrible murders of their loved ones.”
Arkansas has not executed an inmate for 11 years but the state’s new governor Asa Hutchinson has put the death penalty high on his agenda.
Legal challenges and difficulty in obtaining execution drugs have delayed executions in the state but Hutchinson said he is now determined to bring closure to the victims’ families
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Hutchinson said: “My office is prepared to respond to any and all challenges that might occur between now and the execution dates.
“I will do all I can to finally bring closure to the victims' families and to honor the verdicts and sentences imposed by juries decades ago.”
The inmates due to be executed include Bruce Ward, 70, who strangled a teenager to death in 1989, Marcel Williams, 46, who raped and killed a mum-of-two in 1994 and Kenneth Williams, 35, who murdered a cheerleader in 1998 and another man when he escaped from prison a year later.
Don Davis, 54, who shot a woman while he was burgling her home, Ledelle Lee, 51, who raped two women and murdered a third in 1995, and Stacey Johnson, 48, who stabbed a prison officer while serving time for another killing, will also be put to death.
Others facing execution are Jack Jones, 52, who raped and murdered a bookkeeper, and Jason McGehee, 40, who kidnapped and murdered a a gang member he thought had snitched on him in 1996.
Ward and David are due to be executed on April 17, Lee and Johnson on April 20, Jones and Williams on April 24 and the remaining two on April 27