The US government has carried out its first execution in 17 years, putting to death convicted murderer Daniel Lee after the supreme court cleared the way overnight, a US Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman said.
Lee was pronounced dead at 8.07am ET, the spokeswoman, Kristie Breshears, said by phone.
The execution had been held up by a US district court in Washington, which on Monday ordered the justice department to delay four executions scheduled for July and August. The order was later affirmed by an appellate court.
But at 2.10am, less than seven hours before Lee’s execution was due to take place in Terre Haute, Indiana, the supreme court in a 5-4 vote cleared the way for federal executions to resume.
Two unnamed Bureau of Prisons officials and Lee’s spiritual adviser could be seen inside the execution chamber.
The attorney general, William Barr, announced last July that the justice department would resume executions of some of the 62 inmates on federal death row. He scheduled five executions for December, but was ordered to delay them by a district court judge while long-running lawsuits played out.
An appeals court overturned that injunction in April, and Barr announced new execution dates for July and August of four inmates, all men convicted of murdering children: Lee, Wesley Purkey, Dustin Honken and Keith Nelson.❑
The Guardian
