The execution of a 73-year-old American, who had been sentenced to death in Idaho, stopped yesterday, Wednesday, at the last minute as they failed to give him the lethal injection in the time period provided by law, the correctional authorities of this northwestern US state announced.
The previous execution, which had been postponed for the same reason, was that of Kenneth Smith in Alabama on November 17, 2022. Smith had been sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of a woman at the behest of her husband. He was finally executed on January 25 with hypoxia due to nitrogen inhalation, a world first that caused a wave of reactions.
And the 24 executions that took place in the US in 2023 were carried out by lethal injection.
The second execution that took place yesterday in the country, that of 50-year-old Ivan Cantu, whose fate had sparked the interest of many celebrities, was carried out in Texas without a problem.
Thomas Creech was a serial killer who has spent more than 40 years awaiting execution. He was sentenced to death for the murder of his fellow inmate while serving a life sentence, and should also be executed by lethal injection.
But after about an hour, prison management determined it was impossible “to do an IV,” Idaho Corrections officials explained.
The decision was made after eight attempts were made, in the arms and legs, to inject the condemned man intravenously, Director of Corrections Josh Tiewalt said, adding that it was not yet clear if or when Crich's execution would be rescheduled.
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In Texas, Ivan Candu was sentenced to death in 2001 for the murder the previous year of his cousin James Moskinda and his fiancee Amy Kitchen. Until the end he declared himself innocent.
“I want you to know that I did not kill James and Amy,” he said to the families of the victims.
A key prosecution witness at his trial was his fiancee Amy Betcher, who claimed that Ivan Cantu confessed his crime to her and led her to the scene of the murder.
For his part, Kandu accused a drug smuggler to whom his cousin owed a lot of money.
After the discovery of new evidence, as well as the doubts that arose about the testimony of Amy Betcher, his execution scheduled for April 2023 was postponed.
However, the Texas Court of Appeals overturned the stay.
Actor Martin Sheen, a staunch opponent of the death penalty, created a petition on Instagram asking the state's conservative governor, Greg Abbott, to delay Candoo's execution. This petition gathered around 150,000 signatures.
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian had also called on Americans to mobilize and ask Abbott for a “30-day reprieve” to re-examine Cantu's case.
Twenty-three US states have abolished the death penalty. Six others, Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, have imposed moratoriums on executions following a decision by their governors.
According to a recent survey by the Gallup Institute, for the first time since 2000, 50% of Americans believe that the death penalty is not applied fairly in the US, compared to 47% who have the opposite opinion. However, the majority of Americans (53%) still favor the death penalty.
Source: News Beast
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