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| Mississippi Executes Convicted Killer |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/19/2002 |
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A 39-year-old man convicted of gunning down a state trooper in 1987 was put to death by injection in Mississippi's first execution in 13 years. Tracy Alan Hansen was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m. Wednesday. Hansen fatally shot Bruce Ladner after the trooper pulled him over for speeding. Ladner was shot once in the shoulder and once in the back as he lay face down on the roadside. 'I know it doesn't help but I'm sorry and it's in my heart,' Hansen told witnesses shortly before the execution. Gov. Ronnie Musgrove denied clemency for Hansen Tuesday, saying the death sentence was justified. Before the execution, he asked residents to pray for the Ladner family and for Hansen. 'Anytime you have a decision of this magnitude, certainly it's a tough decision,' said Musgrove, a death penalty supporter. No members of Hansen's family asked to attend the execution. 'He has family, but they've never cared anything about him,' defense attorney Merrida Coxwell said. 'He has other people who care for him but the family has not been one of them.' The slain trooper's two sons were among the execution's witnesses. Hansen is the first inmate in Mississippi to die by injection. Leo Edwards, the last prisoner to be executed in the state, died in the gas chamber on June 21, 1989. State lawmakers later made injection the only execution option. |
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