PENA MORTE: USA, GIUSTIZIATO NEL MISSOURI PER OMICIDIO

POTOSI (STATI UNITI), 6 FEB - Un uomo di 40 anni, Michael Owsley, condannato a morte per aver ucciso durante una rapina uno spacciatore di droga di 18 anni, e' stato giustiziato con iniezione letale nel carcere di Potosi, Missouri.

 L'avvocato del condannato aveva chiesto una giuria di sole donne, nella speranza che risparmiassero la vita del suo assistito. Ma il verdetto fu per l'esecuzione capitale.

 Owsley si difese nel suo ultimo appello dicendo che al momento dell'omicidio, nel 1993, era sotto l'effetto di stupefacenti e che l'arma, un fucile da caccia a canne mozze, aveva sparato accidentalmente. Diede anche la colpa al suo avvocato, sostenendo che non era in buono stato di salute ed era incompetente. E' morto alle 24:07, dopo aver pregato Allah. 

FEBRUARY 6, 2002

MISSOURI - Man executed in Missouri for shotgun murder of teen-ager after clemency bid is denied 

A man convicted of the shotgun slaying of a teen-ager in 1993 was executed early Wednesday after losing a clemency bid that claimed the justice system is stacked against blacks like him. Michael Owsley, 40, died at 12:07 a.m. by injection at the Potosi Correctional Center, said John Fougere, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections. In a final statement, Owsley said, "I hope for salvation. I hope that the mercy and forgiveness that I have asked for will suffice. Praise Allah."Owsley's fate was sealed late Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court and Gov. Bob Holden refused to halt the execution, the 9th since Holden took office a year ago. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis rejected Owsley's appeals earlier Tuesday. In an interview, Owsley had insisted the shotgun blast that killed 18-year-old Elvin Iverson in 1993 came accidentally while Owsley was "catatonic" on gin and PCP, making the slaying unintentional and worthy of a lesser charge not punishable by death. He also said race played a role in his death sentence."This case needs to be reviewed because Missouri's death-row situation is a situation that has been used repeatedly on people like me poor, black and unable to defend ourselves," Owsley said. "I'm nothing to Missouri, I'm nothing to the United States ... As they see it, I'm still chattel property."In pressing Holden to commute his death sentence to life behind bars, Owsley called his fate unfair compared with the 20-year prison term given accomplice Marion Hamilton on a related 2nd-degree murder conviction. Owsley was accused of punching and kicking Iverson at his Kansas City home in April 1993, at times beating his face with the shotgun before trying to smother him with a bag. Hamilton tied Iverson and companion Ellen Cole together by the feet before the 2 were blanketed. "One of you live, one of you die," Owsley reportedly said while hitting the 2 with the shotgun, moments before the shotgun fired into Iverson's head. Cole managed to escape and call police. Hamilton, 43, will have his 1st parole hearing in April 2003, a Department of Corrections spokesman said. Owsley becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Missouri and the 55th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1989. Owsley becomes the 10th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 759th overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977.