Gary Haugen's attorneys sparred with judges in a heated, last-ditch effort to derail the planning of an execution for the 49-year-old death row inmate.

But Haugen's calm, emphatic plea to end his legal appeals, the delays and ultimately, his life, was granted. The man twice-convicted of murder is to be put to death by lethal injection on Aug. 16 in what will be Oregon's first execution in 14 years.

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"I hope that the families of the victims forgive me for what I've done," Williams said as he lay strapped to a bed.

Williams killed four people and injured three others during a shooting rampage in south Mobile County in the early morning hours of Feb. 15, 1992.

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A man who killed a family of four in 1990 is set to be executed in Mississippi later on Tuesday.

If the lethal injection is carried out as scheduled, it will be the third execution in the state this month.

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"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Beaty, 56, said, his lips quivering as he lay on the death gurney awaiting the injection of a lethal three-drug cocktail. "God will let you see her again."

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HOUSTON - A convicted killer has lost an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to put off his execution set for next week in Huntsville for a slaying in Dallas more than two decades ago.

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The Supreme Court has lifted its hold on the execution of a Texas man convicted in the shooting death of a woman in 2002.

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Convicted killer Gayland Bradford was executed Wednesday for the $7 robbery-slaying of a Dallas grocery store security guard almost 23 years ago.

Bradford already was on parole for a robbery conviction when he was arrested for gunning down 29-year-old Brian Williams four days after Christmas in 1988. The shooting came on Williams' second day on the job at the market a few miles south of downtown Dallas.

[Story doesn't mention anything about "last words". Has the media stopped reporting it?]

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From Gayland Bradford:

"I am at peace," he said. "We have no worries, just as I have no more worries. To the victim's family, may you be at peace also."

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"I'm here for defending myself from eight black dudes in prison," Taylor told The Associated Press recently from a visiting cage outside death row. "I did what I did. I never tried to say I didn't do what I did."

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Convicted killer Lee Andrew Taylor has been executed for stabbing a fellow Texas prison inmate to death 12 years ago.

"I never meant to hurt you," Mathis, strapped to a gurney with tubing taped to his arms, told Almaguer. "You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

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[Lying to the end: Mathis testified at his 1999 trial that he wasn't at the scene of the shooting, even though his lawyers had told jurors he was there. After meeting with his attorneys, he changed his testimony to acknowledge he was present, explaining he was afraid when he didn't initially tell the truth.]

Milton Mathias used a gun,
To kill some friends, just for fun;
his lawyer cried diminished capacity;
As Milton laughed at it's audacity
But the State of Texas he couldn't beat
and now he must face Hades heat.

Those who saw the results of the handiwork of Mathis in Fred's trial know firsthand his murderous brutality. What a cop out to say he didn't mean to hurt her, as his one living victim is now trapped in her body as a result of an act he refused to accept responsibility for.

I liked one of the Chronicle commenters from Monday's article on this case:

Stoic_Kitty
5:27 AM on June 20, 2011
We Need To Get To Work Quickly If We Are Going To Save The Crack House Killer.

A Fulton County judge rejected the challenge of a death row inmate today who raised concerns about Georgia's switch to a new lethal injection drug.

Superior Court Judge Wendy Shoob denied a motion to halt the execution of Roy Willard Blankenship, who is set to be executed Thursday for the 1978 murder of an elderly Savannah woman.

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Support for the death penalty remains high, and adults are a bit more confident that capital punishment helps deter crime than they were a year ago.

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An interesting tidbit:

Less than half of adults nationwide believe the U.S. system of justice is fair to most Americans. But far more think the problem with the system is not that the innocent are treated unfairly but that the guilty go free.

quote:

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Less than half of adults nationwide believe the U.S. system of justice is fair to most Americans. But far more think the problem with the system is not that the innocent are treated unfairly but that the guilty go free.

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How did that get into an article on the death penalty?

Not only do guilty go free, but the unapprehended guilty are the largest class of concern and they have yet to enter the justice system.

Twenty-three years and five days after young Jennifer Wilson's body was found on Sheep Hill, her killer was put to death. In his last words, he made no mention of the crime for which he was put to death.

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The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to block a Mexican man's execution in Texas, set to take place within hours. The White House has pleaded for a stay in the case where Texas justice is clashing with international treaty rights.

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[This message was edited by JB on 07-08-11 at .]

"I have hurt a lot of people. I take full blame for everything. I am sorry for what I did," he said in the death chamber.

"One more thing," he said as the drugs began taking effect. Then he shouted twice, "Viva Mexico!"

"Ready, warden," he said. "Let's get this show on the road."

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