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NEW YORK, 27 MAG -
John Blackwelder,
un detenuto della Florida che, dopo essere stato
condannato all'ergastolo, uccise nel 2000 un compagno di cella per farsi
condannare a morte perche' non sopportava l'idea di passare
la vita in prigione, e' stato messo a morte con
l'iniezione letale.
Ieri il governatore della Florida Jeb Bush, fratello del presidente George W. Bush, aveva concesso il rinvio in extremis, quando gia' tutto era pronto per l'esecuzione, perche' un altro detenuto aveva raccontato che un suo compagno di cella avrebbe confessato l'omicidio per cui Blackwelder e' stato condannato. In seguito a una rapida inchiesta questa versione era stata trovata infondata e Bush aveva dato luce verde all'iniezione. Blackwelder s'era sempre proclamato innocente del delitto per cui venne condannato all'ergastolo, una violenza su minore. Ma aveva anche detto che, se fosse dovuto tornare in cella con la prospettiva di restarci tutta la vita, avrebbe ucciso. Il detenuto e' il 911/esimo messo a morte negli Usa da quando gli Stati Uniti hanno riammesso nel 1976 la pena capitale.
Inmate Who Sought Death Penalty Executed Thursday, May 27, 2004; STARKE, Fla., May 26 -- A man who sought out the death penalty by killing a fellow inmate was executed Wednesday after a 24-hour delay. John Blackwelder received a lethal injection at Florida State Prison and was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m., said Jacob DiPietre, a spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush. Blackwelder, 49, was convicted of strangling of Raymond Wigley, who was serving a life term for murder. At the time of the killing, Blackwelder was serving life without parole for a series of sex convictions. He has said he killed Wigley and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder so he would be sentenced to die. Blackwelder's execution was delayed a day after inmate William Demler wrote the state attorney general's office to say another inmate told him that yet another inmate confessed to killing Wigley, 39, at Columbia Correctional Institution in May 2000. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated Demler's claim and determined Blackwelder was the killer, Bush said. "I felt in an abundance of caution that there should be extra work done, which was done overnight," Bush said about three hours before Blackwelder's execution. "That proved to my satisfaction that the accusation was not true." Blackwelder said in an interview Monday that he manipulated the state, killing Wigley to ensure he would get the death penalty because he could not stand the idea of spending his life in prison but could not commit suicide. 2004 The Washington Post | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
the Community of Sant'Egidio
Abolitions, 
