WASHINGTON, 13 MAR - Un cittadino britannico e' stato giustiziato stasera in un penitenziario della Georgia dopo che

le massime istanze giudiziarie di quello stato avevano respinto e ultime richieste di sospensione dell'esecuzione.

   Tracy Housel, 43 anni, e' morto alle 19.28 (01,28 ora

italiana) in seguito ad una iniezione letale. Housel, nato nelle Bermuda ma cresicuto negli Stati uniti, era stato condannato a morte per avere strangolato la giovane autostoppista Jean Drew.

   Per la sospensione della condanna si erano pronunciate

diverse personalita' tra cui lo stesso premier britannico Tony

Blair che aveva scritto una lettera che era stata poi letta in pubblico da Helen Prejean, la religiosa autrice del libro 'Dead

man Walking'.  

Atlanta Journal Constitution

  13-MAR-02

GEORGIA - Execution of Housel major news in Europe

Considering the 20 foreign media representatives outside the Georgia Diagnostics and Classification Prison Tuesday, Europe was more interested in the execution of Tracy Housel, a drifter and accused serial killer, than the people in this state.

At 7:28 p.m., Housel became the 6th person Georgia has put to death by lethal injection. The BBC broadcast that news live to audiences in England. Throughout the evening, reporters for several London newspapers and a French news service huddled under a tarpaulin set up by corrections officials to stay out of a cold, steady rain. Only 5 Georgia reporters were present.

 Housel, 43, was the focus of news coverage in the United Kingdom and pleas for clemency by the European Union because of his dual citizenship. He was born in Bermuda, a British territory.

 Housel was executed for killing Jean Drew, who he met at a Gwinnett County truck stop restaurant in 1985. He also was linked to murders in Texas and California and assaults in Iowa and New Jersey.

 It was a friendly atmosphere in the death chamber, as Housel chatted with nurses, officers and the warden. He was interested in what was happening to him, asking questions and watching what they did to him.

 He smiled and winked at the warden and recited verses from the Old and New Testaments read by the chaplain -- the 23rd Psalm and 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 17 -- "The old is gone and the new has come," they said.

 He apologized to the family of Jean Drew, though corrections officials said they were unable to locate family members to be present.

 While the drugs were administered, he sang, but the words were not audible. As the drugs took effect, he gasped and snorted. After several minutes, his chest stopped moving.

 Earlier Tuesday, Housel was visited by his mother, 20-year-old son and ex-wife. Friend Gary Proctor, who met Housel in 1999 while doing some investigative work for Housel's lawyers, also was one of his visitors. He said they talked about Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Housel's days as a truck driver. Housel's last meal consisted of steak, baked potato, salad, corn, a milkshake and ice cream.

 Though Housel had pleaded guilty to murdering Drew, Housel's lawyers and supporters tried to save him by arguing that he would not have received the death penalty if the jury had heard that he suffered several head injures as a child and was hypoglycemic and could not be responsible for his actions when his blood sugar level dropped.

 Diplomats from five European Union nations, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and a member of the British Parliament worked on his behalf.

 On Monday, the BBC reported live from outside the building where the Department of Corrections and the state Board of Pardons and Paroles have offices.

 BBC online reporter Jonathan Duffy said it was England's "ghoulish fascination" with the death penalty, which was abolished there nearly 40 years ago. The United States and 85 other countries have the death penalty.

 Tuesday night, Duffy reported online that Housel became the 1st British man executed in America in 7 years. "News of Housel's fate will come as a bitter disappointment to those in Britain who have fought for a reprieve," he wrote.