The US Supreme Court rejected last minute claims that the application of the death penalty was racially discriminatory as the second federal execution inside nine days was carried out yesterday.
Like Timothy McVeigh, multiple murderer and drug smuggler Juan Raul Garza died by lethal injection at the Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. About 90 minutes before the execution, Garza, who expressed deep regret for his actions, began a meeting with a Catholic priest that lasted about half an hour. He had eaten a final meal of steak, French fries, onion rings and a soft drink, the warden said. He was pronounced dead within nine minutes of the official execution time.
Garza (44) lost his final appeals to the US Supreme Court and President George Bush refused his plea for clemency. The leader of a huge Texas-based marijuana smuggling ring, he was sentenced to die for committing a drug-related murder and ordering two other people killed.
Prosecutors described him as a vicious, dictatorial gang leader who gave little thought to wiping out rivals.
