HOUSTON” A Texas man was executed Wednesday for the 1997 slaying of a woman who was jogging in his Houston neighborhood, one of two executions scheduled for this week in the United States.
Arthur Lee Burton, 54, was put to death by lethal injection at Huntsville State Prison and pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m. Central European Time (2347 GMT), Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials said.
Additionally, the western state of Utah is scheduled to carry out an execution overnight, its first in 14 years.
Taberon Honie, 48, is due to be executed shortly after midnight mountain time (0600 GMT) for the 1998 murder and sexual assault of his ex-girlfriend’s mother.
Honia is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City.
The last execution in Utah was by firing squad in 2010.
Burton, a Texas death row inmate, was convicted in July 1997 of murdering Nancy Adleman, a mother of three who was attacked while jogging. Adleman was strangled by her own shoelaces.
Burton’s lawyers appealed to the High Court to halt his execution, but the application was dismissed without comment.
His lawyers argued that Burton should be constitutionally exempt from death because he is mentally disabled.
“To all the people I’ve hurt and hurt, I wish we didn’t have to be here at this moment, but I want you to know that I’m sorry for putting you through all of this,” Burton said in his finale. declaration.
Texas has carried out two executions since January, bringing the total to 10 in the United States so far this year. The death penalty has been abolished in 23 US states, while moratoria are in place in six others (Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee).
