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AP
Edwin Hart Turner was executed Wednesday despite lawyers' pleas that he was mentally ill.
PARCHMAN, Miss. -- A Mississippi inmate has been put to death for killing two men in a December 1995 robbery spree after courts declined to stop the execution based on arguments that he was mentally ill.
Edwin Hart Turner, 38, was administered a lethal injection and died at 6:21 p.m. CST at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, authorities said. The inmate was convicted of killing the two men while robbing gas stations with a friend, Paul Murrell Stewart, in a spree that netted about $400. Stewart, 17 at the time, testified against Turner and was sentenced to life in prison.
Earlier story: Too crazy to kill?
Turner was strapped on a gurney wearing white shoes and one of the red prison jumpsuits issued to death row inmates. When a microphone was lowered to his mouth, he said, "No" when asked if he had a final statement. Then the chemicals began flowing through tubes into his body. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and had the appearance of falling asleep.
Turner was convicted of capital murder in the deaths of Eddie Brooks and Everett Curry. Brooks was shot to death while working at Mims Turkey Village Truck Stop in Carroll County. Curry was shot to death while pumping gas at the nearby Mims One Stop.
Mississippi Department of Corrections spokeswoman Suzanne Singletary said a sister and cousin of victim Eddie Brooks watched the execution. The brother and son of his other victim, Everett Curry, also witnessed it. They were escorted out of the witness room after the execution, saying nothing as they were led away. Turner had requested that none of his family watch the execution, though two of his attorneys were listed to be witnesses.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused late Wednesday to block the execution. Earlier in the day, Gov. Phil Bryant had refused to grant a reprieve, saying after a review of the case, "I have decided not to grant clemency for his violent acts."
Earlier, Turner's lawyers had objected to the pace of events in the scheduling of the execution.
"Execution was set in this case with only 13 days' notice — a procedure that would be illegal in most other states. Mississippi has created a time crunch and forced both the courts and the Governor to respond to this most serious of cases with inadequate time and consideration," said Richard Bourke, director of the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center.
James Craig, another LCAC attorney representing Turner, had persuaded U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves on Monday to temporarily block the execution after arguing a Department of Corrections policy prevented Turner from getting tests that could prove he was mentally ill when he killed the two men.
That petition said Mississippi is one of 10 states that permit someone who suffered from serious mental illness at the time of the offense to be executed. Turner's lawyers wanted the court to prohibit the execution of mentally ill people as it did with inmates considered mentally retarded.
On Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned the stay.
Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Turner was talkative in the hours before the execution Wednesday but declined to discuss the crimes for which he was sentenced to death. Asked if Turner seemed mentally ill, Epps said of the visit with the prisoner in those final hours: "No, not to me. He appears to be on the ball."
There's little dispute that Turner killed two men while robbing gas stations, then went home and had a meal of shrimp and cinnamon rolls before going to sleep.
Turner's lawyers argued in the petition to the U.S. Supreme Court that he inherited a serious mental illness. They argued that his father is thought to have committed suicide by shooting a gun into a shed filled with dynamite and his grandmother and great-grandmother both spent time in the state mental hospital.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
Leave a Comment:
good riddance!
Mentally ill nor not, he was a killer. We don't ask if animalls (the furry kinds) are mentally ill before they are killed for harming a human, and this lowlife scumbag deserved to be humanely put down.
1 down thousands to go
Now was this a picture of how he looked after years of bubba-luv in the joint? Or was he that way before prison?
He tried suicide with a shotgun. He failed.
That's extremely hard to do.
Look in my opinion some mentally ill people are in prison for the wrong reason. Not this guy/ Good ridance is right.
Why so much media attention for this guy and none for his victims? Didn't they have families, dreams, hopes? How about a story on them for a change? The media loves its criminal "darlings" and how "unjust" capital punishment is, but what of the killer's victims? Sad state of affairs, today....sad
His lawyer felt this was too rushed. He was in prison for 17 years. What would keeping this person alive accomplish?
Mental incompetence is no reason to forgive murder. Mensa member or not, if you kill, you're a danger to society. Dangers to society need to be removed from the books permanently.
can you imagine going to your death looking at that mug, jeeezzzzzzus its enought to scare you to death as it is.
what a shame that hard working people in a gas station have to fall to such as that. dude that mug shot is spooky to me. I am glad I never will have to see to stareing me down when he has a gun or knife in his hand. Jeeezzzzzzzus wowzzieee.
just a hypothetical question, if he had the mental capacity of a minor child should he have gotten life without parole ? or put to death ? his partner in crime who was 17 years old at the time of the murders recieved life without parole probably because he was a minor.
You people are scary. It's people like you who make the death penalty unjust.
And it's nasty, ugly, murderers like this freak that make it just!!!
This poor man. He only deprived 2 men of their lives. His attorneys wanted a medal for him and are angry it will only be a bronze plaque in the cemetery. The anti-d e a t h penalty people would have given him probation and angry words; along with a few thousand a month welfare.
And yes they think his victims deserved what they received for denying him everything they owned.
The taxpayers have been paying for him since 1995? I'd say we got a good screwing.
Did you know that it actually costs more money to kill someone with capital punishment than it does to keep them in prison for life? That's one of the reasons why capital punishment is going to be argued at the federal level to be banned, because that argument that it saves the taxpayers money, is not valid at all.
If he had been social and of at least average intelligence, he could have gone to work in the Governor's mansion and gotten a pardon. Instead, because he was intellectually or mentally impaired and apparently did not have the thousands of dollars necessary to apply for a pardon, he is put to death. Mississippi is going to find itself under Federal court supervision if it doesn't get its corrections and pardons house in order.
Dems no mercy for even the mentaly ill, just kill, spend, kill, spend..
execution too quick ? He's had over 15 years !!! more that his victums
Try to find anyone in Mississippi that is not border line retarted.
Really, Dale? "Retarted"? lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would advise you to make sure your statements don't make you look dumb when you start bashing an entire state, otherwise you make yourself appear "retarted".
Hey Dale, are you from Mississippi? Did you graduate grammar school or are you just "retarted"?
sane, insane whats the difference. he's gonna be dead anyway. Just shut up and clean the pool. life sucks and then you die..
State sanctioned murder.
This country fits right in with Iran and China, And other countries living in the dark ages.
This man is definitely mentally ill. Anyone in their right mind knows shrimp and cinnamon buns don't mix!
Uhhh...I guess he's not ill any more..
The only thing "ill" about him was his face, it seems...
I don't know all the facts in this case BUT, if this man was mentally ill and/or retarded, executing him was a crime even worse than the one he committed. But, then again, what can you expect from a retarded state like Mississippi which is one step removed from the Stone Age.
And what exactly makes Mississippi "one step removed from the Stone Age"? The crime was murder, not just one but two murders. The criminal was convicted, spent 17 years in prison. I think my tax dollars, as a Mississippian, were better spent in his execution than his upkeep.
Dang, quit bashing Mississippi (or any state) for that matter. Crap like this happens in EVERY STATE!!
It's not a persons fault if they are mentally ill, it is however their responsibility to do something about it though. I have a mental illness, I'm bipolar type 1 but I take my meds and I'm a contributing member of society. There is no excuse for what that man did, he deserved the death penalty. I wish we had it here in Canada. We could have used it on Paul Bernardo and Karla Homalka but instead we payed to have those two monsters locked up.
Why should we the people pay for some mental case to stay alive. Rot in hell you piece of dirt. As for the bleeding hearts out there you are as crazy as he was.
I guess I don't understand what the controversy is here, are we supposed to feel sympathy for him b/c he's trying to avoid the death penalty by way of a mental illness defense? He was responsible for multiple murders and I'm glad he was put to death before the state could figure out a legal recourse to save him.