The United States carried out its second federal execution this week by killing Wesley Ira Purkey on Thursday morning by lethal injection.
Purkey, who was convicted in 1998 of the kidnapping and murder of Jennifer Long, 16, before dismembering, burning, and dumping her body in a septic tank, was executed at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, at 8 a.m. : 19 am local time.
“I deeply regret the pain and suffering I caused to Jennifer’s family,” said Purkey in the moments before his execution. “So sorry. I deeply regret the pain I caused my daughter, whom I love very much. This disinfected murder really doesn’t do any good at all. “
In this 1998 photo, Wesley Ira Purkey, center, is escorted by police officers in Kansas City, Kansas, after being arrested in connection with the death of 80-year-old Mary Ruth Bales. (AP / The Kansas City Star)
DANIEL LEWIS LEE PUTS DEATH IN FIRST FEDERAL EXECUTION IN 17 YEARS
Purkey was also convicted in Kansas state court after using a hammer to kill an 80-year-old woman who had polio, but her lawyers argued that she had dementia and was not fit to be executed.
The United States Supreme Court cleared the way for his execution to take place just a few hours earlier, ruling in a decision 5-4. The four liberal judges disagreed, as they did for the first case earlier this week.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor wrote that “proceeding with the execution of Purkey now, despite serious questions and factual findings regarding his mental competence, casts a cloak of constitutional doubts about the most irrevocable injuries.” He was joined by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Elena Kagan.
It was the second federal government execution after a 17-year hiatus. Another man, Daniel Lewis Lee, was executed Tuesday after his eleventh hour legal offers failed.
Federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where Purkey was executed Thursday. (AP)
ANDREW MCCARTHY: THE SUPREME COURT IS CONSTITUTIONALLY ACCURATE BY ALLOWING THE EXECUTION OF THE TRIPLE-MURDER TO PROCEED
Purkey’s attorneys had argued that his condition had deteriorated so severely that he did not understand why he was being executed. They said he was repeatedly sexually assaulted as a child and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other mental health conditions.
Purkey’s mental health issue arose in the run-up to his 2003 trial and when, after the verdict, jurors had to decide whether he should be executed for Long’s murder in Kansas City, Missouri. Prosecutors said he raped and stabbed Long, dismembered her with a chainsaw, burned her body, and dumped her ashes 200 miles away in a septic tank in Kansas.
Purkey was sentenced separately and sentenced to life in prison for the beating to death of Mary Ruth Bales, 80, of Kansas City, Kansas.
DANIEL LEWIS READS PART OF THE FIRST WAVE OF FEDERAL EXECUTIONS SINCE 2003
Purkey had a long history of childhood trauma, was sexually abused by family members and a Catholic priest, and was beaten by other family members, Liz Vartkessian, a mitigation specialist who worked with and visited by dozens of Purkey. of times in the last five years. , she told the Associated Press.
But recently, Purkey’s mental health had seriously deteriorated to the point that he had no resistance to long visits with his legal team and often forgot key facts and dates, he said.
Correctional officers had to help him write a schedule to remember his visits with his attorneys, Vartkessian added.
And he had a long history of paranoia and delusions and believed that the Justice Department was moving forward with his execution due to many complaints and lawsuits that he brought to prison, although most had failed, Vartkessian said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
This week, the Supreme Court also lifted the suspension of other executions scheduled for Friday and next month.
Dustin Honken, an Iowa drug lord convicted of killing five people in a plan to silence former traffickers, is scheduled to be executed on Friday.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
