|
TENNESSEE (USA): EXECUTED AFTER MORE THAN 20 YEARS ON DEATH ROW
February 4, 2009: A Tennessee man was executed by lethal injection for the death of a couple in 1985, authorities said.
Steve Henley, 55, was sentenced to death for the slayings of Fred and Edna Stafford. Authorities said Henley shot the couple and later set their farmhouse on fire.
An autopsy found that Edna Stafford was still alive when the fire was set, according to authorities.
Henley had maintained his innocence, blaming the couple's deaths on co-defendant Terry Flatt.
Flatt testified that Henley was drunk, high on drugs and angry over a debt he believed the Staffords owed his grandparents.
Flatt served five years in prison before completing his parole last year.
Tennessee last performed its execution in September 2007.
In February 2007, the state put executions on hold when Gov. Phil Bredesen ordered a review of how Tennessee administered the death penalty.
The moratorium was lifted in May 2007 after the state's death-penalty protocols were revised. (Sources: Cnn, 04/02/2009)
|
