Ariz. executes its oldest inmate for 1978 killing

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Ariz. executes its oldest inmate for 1978 killing

Published: October 8, 2013 Updated 26 minutes ago

By BOB CHRISTIE — Associated Press


FLORENCE, Ariz. — Arizona on Wednesday executed the oldest person on its death row, nearly 35 years after he was charged with murdering a Bisbee man during a robbery.

The execution of 71-year-old Edward Harold Schad Jr. came about two hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeals.

He was given a lethal dose of pentobarbital at the state prison in Florence, and was pronounced dead at 10:12 a.m.

In his final hours, Schad thanked his lawyers and corrections officers who watched over him during the 35 days since his execution was scheduled, said Kelley Henry, a federal public defender who helped represent him.


Read more: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2013/10/08/3250355/ariz-executes-its-oldest-inmate.html#storylink=cpy

[Paolo123]

1. Quite a shame

That the death penalty still exists in the US

[lastlib]

2. To our Eternal Shame!

that we still allow the state the power to take life. It is one relic of our barbaric past that I've always hoped to see eradicated in my lifetime. 'Twill be a forlorn hope, I fear......

[nomorenomore08]

10. +1

I feel nothing for this (now dead) murderer. The world is most likely a better place without him in it. That said, I'm still not comfortable with the state having the power of life and death over its citizens.

[mountain grammy]

3. Because this is what a "good Christian Nation" does. An eye for an eye, blah, blah, blah.

[tabasco]

4. Lived a nice long life

unlike the man he robbed and murdered.

Fuck this murdering piece of shit and I hope he's burning in hell.

[maxsolomon]

5. if he deserved death, he deserved it quickly

not 35 years on death row later. justice owes the convicted that much.

what was accomplished by dragging it out so long? if you're going to kill, get it over with. don't wait until the executee is near death from natural causes. that's cruel and purposeless. you wouldn't treat a dog that way.

i'm sorry to inform you that there is no hell. or heaven. both victim and murderer are simply no more.

[dark forest]

6. Exactly why

did the state wait so long to execute the man?

Are you saying that it was the state that was reluctant to carry out the sentence?

Are you saying that appeals for the convicted should be minimized or eliminated?

I'm not quite understanding your position.

[maxsolomon]

8. I don't know why it took 35 years

but if it takes 35 years to get through the legal process to carry out a death sentence, then it's not worth it. give up the death penalty. it's not like we NEED to execute prisoners. we WANT to, because we believe they deserve it. it's cheaper to commute it to life in prison.

my position is: no half measures. do it quick or don't do it.

[dark forest]

11. May I suggest

that it was the prisoner's own appeals that made the process so long.

So. I ask again, should the appeal process be cut short?

[maxsolomon]

13. maybe.

i think that it should move through the courts faster than 35 years. i don't think that's "cutting it short", which implies that it would limit a prisoner's appeals.

was it in fact, the prisoner's appeals? 35 years of them?

[Judi Lynn]

7. It IS a shock to learn anyone could live on death row for 35 years.

It probably works out that the prisoner is so exhausted emotionally he/she somehow accommodates it, accepts it, in the end, so tired of trying to stay strong every minute all those years, living on adrenalin.

So many people seem to miss the point revenge is not the same as moral. You don't get a "free" "get even" murder because someone else has been killed, and still consider yourself a civilized human being.

Don't know how they convince themselves they can side-step reality because they want to.

[nomorenomore08]

9. So what would've been the difference, keeping him in prison another decade or two?

Don't get me wrong, I have little to no sympathy or pity for the vast majority of murderers. And I have no problem with keeping them in prison the rest of their lives, particularly if they present an ongoing threat to the public. But I also believe that the death penalty costs more money than it's worth, and that each execution renders us that little bit less civilized, as a culture.

[alcibiades_mystery]

12. Slow clap for the most righteous on the thread