Pena Di Morte: Usa, Esecuzione Nel Missouri; Giustiziato Omicida Per Rapina

POTOSI (STATI UNITI) - Un uomo del Missouri condannato per aver ucciso durante una rapina un ragazzo che lavorava a un distributore di benzina 19 anni fa, e' stato messo a morte nonostante sforzi dell'ultimo minuto per dimostrare la sua innocenza. Steven Johns, 55 anni, e' stato giustiziato con un'iniezione letale nel carcere di Potosi, il settimo giustiziato nel Missouri nel 2001 e il 53/o da quando lo stato ha ripreso le esecuzioni nel 1989.

Missouri Executes Killer of Gas Station Attendant

POTOSI, Mo.  - A Missouri man convicted forshooting to death a teen-age gasoline station attendant 19years ago was put to death early on Wednesday, despitelast-ditch efforts to prove the inmate was wrongly accused.As his mother and brother looked on, Steven Johns, 55, diedat 12:03 a.m. Wednesday after a series of lethal doses ofdrugs were administered at Potosi Correctional Center, saidprison spokesman John Fougere. Johns was the seventh person put to death in Missouri thisyear and the 53rd since the state resumed capitalpunishment in 1989. He had been on death row since January 1983, filing aseries of appeals after being found guilty of the 1982murder of 17-year-old Don Voepel, a high school student whowas working at a St. Louis gasoline station when he waskilled.

According to authorities, the slaying took place whileJohns and accomplice Robert Wishon were robbing thegasoline station. Johns shot Voepel three times in the backof the head as the boy lay on the floor of a storage room,they said. Wishon, 38, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 1983and was paroled in August. Johns' attorneys last week filed a new appeal after findingin a stack of old legal documents a 1984 affidavit fromWishon reversing an earlier recorded statement in which hehad said Johns shot Voepel.

But while Johns' attorneys said the evidence indicatedJohns guilt was in doubt, prosecutors said the evidenceagainst him was overwhelming, and the courts denied allappeals. As the family of Voepel watched the execution early onWednesday, Johns issued a last statement maintaining hisinnocence. ``Missouri and its agents have killed innocent men in thepast. I guess they think it just a part of doing business.I have over the past many years heard many last words ofthose killed by the state and its citizens.

They range from'I'm sorry' to 'Kiss my fat ass,''' Johns said in thestatement. ``If the state and its citizens kill me, I would say that Ido not forgive those whose lies led to my conviction. I donot forgive the juries who exercise their considerableintellect to deny me justified legal redress. I do notforgive those state functionaries who act as good Germansto kill me,'' he added. ``I am innocent, but was not given the tools at trial or onappeal to make my innocence into a legal reality,'' Johnssaid. Twenty-six death penalty opponents protested outside theprison during the execution, Fougere said.