VIRGINIA. MAN EXECUTED BY ELECTRIC CHAIR

July 21, 2006: convicted murderer Brandon Wayne Hedrick was executed in the electric chair in Virginia on July 20 night becoming the first person in the United States to be put to death by electrocution in more than two years.
Hedrick, 27, was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of Lisa Crider, 23, near Lynchburg, Virginia, in May 1998. "Death was pronounced at 9:12 (EST/00:12 GMT). There were no complications," said Virginia Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor. Hedrick elected to die by electrocution rather than lethal injection, Traylor said. Under Virginia law, death row inmates may choose either the electric chair or lethal injection. If they refuse to make a choice, the method of execution would automatically be lethal injection, which became an option in Virginia in January 1995. Since then, only four condemned inmates have chosen electrocution, including Hedrick, Traylor said. Before Hedrick, the last person to be put to death in the electric chair in the United States was James Neil Tucker in 2004 in South Carolina, according to the Washington Post.
Traylor said Hedrick made a final statement as witnesses, including several members of his victim's family looked on. "I'm ready to go and be free," the statement said, in part. (Sources: Reuters, 21/07/2006)