An Oklahoma man convicted of raping and beating to death an 84year-old woman was due to be executed early this morning, the first of a state record of seven executions scheduled in one month. Eddie Leroy Trice (48) was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 10 p.m. EST yesterday (3 a.m. today, Irish time) for the 1987 murder of Ms Ernestine Jones during a $500 robbery.
Oklahoma's busy execution schedule this month has drawn fire from death penalty opponents, including the Rev Jesse Jackson, who staged a series of protests calling for a state moratorium on capital punishment like one adopted by Illinois in 2000. The Governor, Mr Frank Keating, has repeatedly dismissed calls for a moratorium and said this week that capital punishment "is a statement of moral outrage and justice sought and received".