|
|
| Florida Gov. Issues Stays of Two Executions |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 10/02/2002 |
|
Gov. Jeb Bush issued temporary stays of execution Monday for two inmates who have dropped their appeals, saying he needed to determine if they are mentally competent. One of the two is one of the few female serial killers. Triple killer Rigoberto Sanchez-Velasco had been scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday, and serial killer Aileen Wuornos was scheduled to die next week. Bush asked psychiatrists to examine both inmates. The stays could be lifted if there are findings of competency, the governor's office said. Both Sanchez-Velasco and Wuornos have fired their state lawyers and dropped their appeals. Wuornos, 44, one of the United States' first known female serial killers, 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. 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 officers 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 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. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think