Convicted murderer put to death in fourth US execution this week
Stephen Stanko, 57, was pronounced dead at 6:34 pm (2234 GMT) at the state prison in Columbia, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said in a statement.
Stanko had a choice between his method of execution -- firing squad, electric chair or lethal injection.
He chose lethal injection.
Stanko was convicted of the 2005 murders of his girlfriend, Laura Ling, 43, and Henry Turner, a 74-year-old friend.
He also raped Ling's teenage daughter and slit her throat but she survived and testified against him at trial.
In a final statement read by his attorney, Stanko said he was "truly sorry for the pain and loss that I caused.
"Sorry is never enough but that does not mean it should not be said."
Stanko was the fourth Death Row inmate executed in the United States this week.
President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and called on his first day in office for an expansion of its use "for the vilest crimes."
John Hanson, 61, was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on Thursday for carjacking and kidnapping Mary Bowles, 77, from a mall in the city of Tulsa and then shooting her to death along with a witness, Jerald Thurman.
Hanson had been serving a life sentence for bank robbery in a federal prison in the state of Louisiana but the Trump administration approved his transfer to Oklahoma so he could face the death penalty.
Anthony Wainwright, 54, convicted of the 1994 murder of Carmen Gayheart, 23, a nursing student and mother of two young children, was put to death by lethal injection in Florida on Tuesday.
Gregory Hunt, 65, convicted of the 1988 rape and murder of his girlfriend, Karen Lane, 32, was executed by nitrogen gas in Alabama that same day.
There have been 23 executions in the United States this year: 18 by lethal injection, two by firing squad and three by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a facemask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.
The use of nitrogen gas as an execution method has been denounced by UN experts as cruel and inhumane.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others -- California, Oregon and Pennsylvania -- have moratoriums in place.
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France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Convicted murderer put to death in fourth US execution this week
Stephen Stanko, 57, was pronounced dead at 6:34 pm (2234 GMT) at the state prison in Columbia, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said in a statement. Stanko had a choice between his method of execution -- firing squad, electric chair or lethal injection. He chose lethal injection. Stanko was convicted of the 2005 murders of his girlfriend, Laura Ling, 43, and Henry Turner, a 74-year-old friend. He also raped Ling's teenage daughter and slit her throat but she survived and testified against him at trial. In a final statement read by his attorney, Stanko said he was "truly sorry for the pain and loss that I caused. "Sorry is never enough but that does not mean it should not be said." Stanko was the fourth Death Row inmate executed in the United States this week. President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and called on his first day in office for an expansion of its use "for the vilest crimes." John Hanson, 61, was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on Thursday for carjacking and kidnapping Mary Bowles, 77, from a mall in the city of Tulsa and then shooting her to death along with a witness, Jerald Thurman. Hanson had been serving a life sentence for bank robbery in a federal prison in the state of Louisiana but the Trump administration approved his transfer to Oklahoma so he could face the death penalty. Anthony Wainwright, 54, convicted of the 1994 murder of Carmen Gayheart, 23, a nursing student and mother of two young children, was put to death by lethal injection in Florida on Tuesday. Gregory Hunt, 65, convicted of the 1988 rape and murder of his girlfriend, Karen Lane, 32, was executed by nitrogen gas in Alabama that same day. There have been 23 executions in the United States this year: 18 by lethal injection, two by firing squad and three by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a facemask, causing the prisoner to suffocate. The use of nitrogen gas as an execution method has been denounced by UN experts as cruel and inhumane. The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others -- California, Oregon and Pennsylvania -- have moratoriums in place.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
At least 2,680 killed in Haiti unrest so far this year: UN
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere with swathes of the country under the control of rival armed gangs who carry out murders, rapes and kidnappings. UN human rights chief Volker Turk said the crisis had plummeted to a new low, with gangs extending their reach beyond the coastal capital Port-au-Prince into central regions. The UN Human Rights Office said at least 2,680 people had been killed between January 1 and May 30, including 54 children. Those figures were from information it has been able to verify, but it said the true toll would likely be far higher. At least 957 others had been wounded and 316 kidnapped for ransom, it added. Sexual violence by gangs and their recruitment of children was also still rising. "Alarming as they are, numbers cannot express the horrors Haitians are being forced to endure on a daily basis," Turk said in a statement. "I am horrified by the ever-increasing spread of gang attacks and other human rights abuses beyond the capital, and deeply concerned by their destabilising impact on other countries in the region." With law enforcement struggling to restore security, mobs and self-defence groups were taking matters into their own hands, leading to even more human rights abuses, he added. Turk cited deadly clashes between gangs and so-called self-defence groups, including one in which at least 25 were killed with machetes. While the country is nominally run by a transitional government, there has been a fresh surge of violence since February, with gangs pressing into previously safe areas. Gangs control 85 percent of Port-au-Prince, according to the UN, and have stepped up attacks on areas not yet under their control. A record number of people -- almost 1.3 million -- have been forced to flee their homes in Haiti due to violence, the UN's migration agency said Wednesday. Turk said the coming months would test the international community's ability to take stronger action to stabilise Haiti and the wider region.
France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
More arrests after third night of unrest in N. Ireland town
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