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| Connecticut executes serial killer |
| By Hartford Courant |
| Published: 05/13/2005 |
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Serial killer Michael Bruce Ross was pronounced dead at 2:25 a.m. today, the first convict executed in New England in 45 years. In the end, the man described as both monster and manipulator controlled his own fate. He had until 2:01 to call off the execution by saying he wanted to pursue more appeals. He did not, and the series of lethal drugs coursed through his veins. Osborn Correctional Institution Warden Christine Whidden announced Ross' death from a podium at 2:28. Ross' body was removed from the prison by Dr. H. Wayne Carver II, the state's chief medical examiner, and two technicians to perform an autopsy. The ranks of death penalty opponents swelled to nearly 300 as they marched through the chilled air to the driveway of the prison where Ross was executed. Candlelight highlighted expressions that ranged from tearful to stoic. Ross' death was preceded by a day of sharply contrasting scenes on both sides of the prison walls. Inside, Ross met with his father and close friends, who described him as calm and at peace. "He's more solid in his decision than I've ever seen him," his former lawyer-turned-confidant, Barry Butler, said after visiting. But outside the prison walls, a game of legal brinkmanship spanning three federal courts from Connecticut to Washington, D.C., played out until 11 p.m., when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected efforts by two defense lawyers to halt the execution. Ross was a 25-year-old insurance agent in June 1984 when he confessed to kidnapping, raping and killing young women over a three-year period. His victims ranged in age from 14 to 25. "They were dead as soon as I saw them," he said in a 1994 interview. For the families of his victims, the execution ended 21 years of protracted court proceedings and the endless publicity that surrounded Ross, a Cornell College graduate who wrote prolifically from prison and was published in magazines and professional journals. |
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