ESEGUITA IN VIRGINIA CONDANNA

WASHINGTON, 15 MAR - La condanna a morte di un uomo che era stato identificato come uno stupratore e un assassino solo grazie alla prova del Dna e' stata eseguita la scorsa notte in Virginia, nella prigione di Jarratt.

   James Earl Patterson, 35 anni, e' stato messo a morte con un'iniezione letale, dopo avere chiesto scusa per il male fatto. L'uomo aveva chiesto di essere condannato a morte e non aveva mai voluto interporre appello.

   Patterson fu coinvolto nello stupro e nell'omicidio di Joyce Sneed Aldridge, compiuto l'11 ottobre 1987, esclusivamente in base al fatto che i campioni di Dna trovati sul luogo del delitto corrispondevano con il suo Dna, i cui dati erano custoditi in una banca data di campioni di circa 175 mila detenuti.

   La Aldridge, 56 anni e gia' nonna, fu violentata, sodomizzata, accoltellata 17 volte e lasciata per morta nella sua casa della Contea di Prince George.

   Il crimine rimase irrisolto per 11 anni, fino a che fu possibile confrontare i dati del Dna. Successivamente, Patterson confesso' il proprio delitto e, al momento del processo, si dichiaro' colpevole. Patterson, allora, era gia' in prigione per stupro e stava scontando una condanna a 25 anni.

   Quella di Patterson e' la prima esecuzione di quest'anno in Virginia e l'84.a da quando, nel 1976, la pena di morte e' di nuovo applicata dopo una moratoria.

MARCH 14, 2002:

VIRGINIA - execution - Killer found through search of DNA database executed 

 A killer found through a search of Virginia's vast DNA database was put to death Thursday night in the nation's 1st execution based on a DNA "cold hit."

 James Earl Patterson, 35, died by injection at the Greensville Correctional Center at 9:10 p.m. EST.

 He filed no last-minute appeals of his conviction for the 1987 rape and fatal stabbing of Joyce S. Aldridge, 56, in her Prince George County home. Gov. Mark R. Warner did not receive a request for clemency.

 Patterson looked calm as he walked into the death chamber. After being strapped down to the gurney, he stared intently at the witnesses and appeared to give a small nod.

 "My heart goes out to the Aldridge family," Patterson said. "...God bless each and every one of you who is here tonight."

 His mother, father, sister, brother and 2 daughters visited with him earlier in the day, a Department of Corrections spokesman said.

 Patterson was imprisoned for nearly 14 years and would have been released in 2004 without the cold hit.

 He was implicated in the murder when the state compared DNA samples from the crime with DNA samples in its database of 175,000 felons. A "cold hit" matched the DNA of Patterson, who was in prison for another rape.

 After the 1999 match, Patterson confessed and pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting and killing Aldridge on Oct. 11, 1987.

 "The penalty fit the crime," Patterson said last week in a telephone interview from death row. "I was responsible and I want to pay the ultimate price."

 Of the 37 other states with the death penalty, no executions have been based on a cold hit, an Associated Press survey found.

 Virginia became the 1st state to execute a person whose conviction was based on DNA evidence when Timothy W. Spencer went to the electric chair in 1993 for a series of stranglings in Richmond and Arlington.

 Patterson becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be put to death in Virginia this year and the 84th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982. Virginia has executed more people since the 1976 re-legalization of the death penalty in the USA except for Texas (262).

 Patterson becomes the 16th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 765th overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977.