Il governatore della Florida, Jeb Bush, ha sospeso   temporaneamente due esecuzioni di condannati a morte che hanno scelto   volontariamente di essere giustiziati. 

Uno dei due casi riguarda la celebre serial-killer Aileen Wuornos, una   lesbica che si fingeva prostituta per uccidere i clienti maschi, alla quale   sono stati dedicati due film, tre libri e un'opera teatrale.

L'esecuzione della Wuornos e' in programma la settimana prossima, mentre   l'altra sospesa da Bush - fratello del presidente degli Usa - e' fissata per   mercoledi' 2 ottobre e riguarda il pluriomicida Rigoberto Sanchez-Velasco.

Le sospensioni possono venir revocate in qualsiasi momento da Bush.

Il governatore intende far valutare entrambi i casi dagli psichiatri, per   capire se siano mentalmente competenti a decidere di morire. La Wuornos e   Sanchez-Velasco hanno entrambi licenziato gli avvocati e rinunciato ai loro   appelli giudiziari, per poter accelerare l' iter delle condanne a morte.     Aileen Wuornos, 44 anni, una delle prime donne serial-killer conosciute   in America, e' stata condannata per aver ucciso sei uomini di mezz'eta',   dopo averli adescati tra il 1989 e il 1990 in autostrada fingendosi una   prostituta.     Sanchez-Velasco e' un profugo cubano condannato a morte nel 1986 per   l'uccisione della figlia undicenne della convivente.     Mentre era in carcere, gli investigatori hanno scoperto altri due delitti   nel suo passato. 

30 set 

TALLAHASSEE, Florida  _ Gov. Jeb Bush issued a temporary stay of execution Monday for one of the United   States' only female serial killers because of questions about whether she   was mentally competent to drop her appeals.

In addition to Aileen Wuornos, Bush issued a similar stay for triple killer   Rigoberto Sanchez-Velasco, who had also dropped his appeals. He had been   scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday, and Wuornos, convicted a   decade ago in a widely publicized series of killings, was scheduled to die   Oct. 9.

Both executions will be carried out as scheduled if three psychiatrists who   examine the death row inmates Tuesday conclude the condemned killers are   competent to be executed.   Under Florida law, the standard for competency is understanding that   execution will result in death and why the sentence is being imposed.

Two years ago, a Florida man who had delusions of being Jesus Christ was   executed because he still understood that execution would result in death   and knew that he had killed his victim.   <If they're competent, the executions will go forward,> Bush told reporters.

Those opposing the death penalty argue that allowing the inmates to drop   their appeals is nothing more that state-assisted suicide. Dianne Abshire, a   member of the Florida Support Group, which supplies emotional support to   Florida death row inmates, said both Wuornos and Sanchez-Velasco are insane.   Wuornos, 44, was convicted of fatally shooting six middle-aged men along   Florida highways in 1989 and 1990.  Her story has been portrayed in two movies, three books and an opera.

A self-described prostitute, she had initially said the killings were in   self-defense after she was assaulted by clients who picked her up while she   was hitchhiking. But she later said the self-defense claim was a lie and she   intended to rob and kill the men.   At a hearing in July, Wuornos told the judge she was <sick of hearing this   `she's crazy' stuff. I'm competent, sane and I'm telling the truth.>    Attorney Raag Singhal was appointed this summer to represent Wuornos in a   lawsuit in which she accuses prison guards of trying to harass her <to   death> and drive her to suicide. In her 25-page handwritten court filing,   Wuornos also accuses prison staff of tainting her food.   <The specific claims she raises ... if untrue appear to   be evidence of delusional behavior,> Singhal wrote the Supreme Court on   Sept. 17.

Sanchez-Velasco, 43, came to Miami from Cuba in the 1980 Mariel boatlift.   He was sentenced to death for the Dec. 12, 1986, slaying of Kathy Encenarro,   the 11-year-old daughter of his live-in girlfriend.

While in prison, Sanchez-Velasco was convicted in the 1995 stabbing deaths   of two other death row inmates.

The governor signed death warrants for Wuornos and Sanchez-Velasco even   though the state Supreme Court continues to review whether a ruling by the   U.S. Supreme Court in an Arizona case would apply to Florida's death row   inmates.

The high court ruled in June that only juries and not judges can sentence   inmates to death. In Florida, juries make a recommendation to the trial   judge, who imposes the sentence.