US executes rapist, murderer

2007-09-26 17:40

Washington - An American man convicted of rape and murder was executed by lethal injection late on Tuesday as the US Supreme Court mulled the constitutionality of the technique.

Michael Wayne Richards, 48, was put to death by the state of Texas after spending 20 years behind bars for raping and murdering a nurse in 1986.

Richards, who had prior convictions on charges of auto theft, robbery and forgery, confessed to the crime but said he shot the 58-year-woman by accident when the gun went off unexpectedly.

Prison authorities began administering the lethal dose at 20:14 (00:14 GMT) and Richards was pronounced dead nine minutes later, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court said it would examine the cases of two men condemned to death in the Southern state of Kentucky in order to clear up controversy over exactly how lethal injections are administered.

During an execution, three drugs are administered to the condemned person: one to sedate him, one to paralyse him, and one to stop the heart.

However, there is no national protocol for administering the drugs and it is not always done by a medical professional. While the prisoner may appear calm, several studies and botched executions have shown that death may in fact be prolonged and quite painful.

Texas authorities had said the court's announcement would not impact its plans to execute Richards.

- AFP