The Justice Department (JD) confirmed that the third inmate awaits execution on Friday. This week, President Trump office says justice done as two inmates were executed in two days after 17-year hiatus, YeniSafak reports.
The US federal government put to death a second inmate on Thursday. The 17-years halt in administering the death penalty was interrupted this week. Wesley Ira Purkey, was executed via lethal injection at Indiana’s Terre Haute prison.
“After many years of litigation following the death of his victims, in which he lived and was afforded every due process of law under our Constitution, Purkey has finally faced justice,” JD spokesperson Kerri Kupec said in a statement.
In his final words, the 68-year-old Purkey reportedly said he regrets all the pain and suffering he caused. “This sanitized murder really does not serve no purpose whatsoever,” he added.
The Supreme Court cleared the way for Purkey’s execution in a 5-4 one-sentence order issued early Thursday morning that vacated lower court orders temporary blocking Purkey’s execution.
The US Justice Department opens the door to the federal executions
The issue of death penalty is always controversial, but under President Trump, the 17-year hiatus on it was interrupted. The panel’s conservative majority stood unison in allowing the federal government to carry out the death penalty while all four liberal justices dissented.
On Tuesday, the federal government put to death Daniel Lewis Lee in Terre Haute after the top court rejected arguments to delay his execution.
Prior to this week, the last US federal execution took place in 2003. A third inmate is slated to be executed via lethal injection on Friday.
