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News Articles: Death Penalty

Shanaye Poole (left) next to her father, Toforest Johnson, during a family visit to see him in prison in the early 2000s.

New Eyes On Alabama Death Row Case After Integrity Review Raises Questions

Former prosecutors and judges say Toforest Johnson's murder conviction was based on shaky evidence. The case is getting a new look as district attorneys review the integrity of past prosecutions.

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  • Debbie Elliott
Takahiro Shiraishi said he targeted those with suicidal thoughts: "It was easier for me to convince people with worries and other issues and manipulate them to my way of thinking."

Japan's 'Twitter Killer' Sentenced To Death In Killing Of 9

Takahiro Shiraishi murdered and dismembered eight women and one man in his apartment near Tokyo. He used Twitter to lure most of his victims, promising he could help them kill themselves.

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  • Jaclyn Diaz
The Justice Department plans to execute five people in the coming weeks. The planned executions pose a challenge to Attorney General Bill Barr's adherence to Catholic teachings, which oppose the death penalty.

Federal Executions Pit The Trump Administration Against The Catholic Church

Opposition to the death penalty is "a teaching that deserves our respect," says Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley. "I don't think it can be simply disregarded."

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  • Tom Gjelten
Flowers are placed at the memorial to the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings on April 20.

Appeals Court Tosses Out Death Sentence For Boston Marathon Bomber

A three-judge panel sends Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's case back to a lower court for resentencing, saying the jury that sentenced him to death had not been adequately vetted.

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  • David Welna
The entrance to the U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute, Ind., is seen Wednesday. Wesley Purkey, convicted of the 1998 kidnapping and killing of a 16-year-old girl, was executed there Thursday morning.

Federal Government Executes 2nd Man After Supreme Court Denies Appeals

Wesley Purkey was executed by lethal injection on Thursday, the second federal execution this week after a 17-year hiatus. The high court's 5-4 decision allowed the execution to proceed.

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  • Scott Neuman and
  • Laurel Wamsley
Ray Jefferson Cromartie was convicted of malice murder and sentenced to die for the April 1994 slaying of Richard Slysz.

Georgia Plans To Seek New Execution Warrant

Lawyers for the state of Georgia have conceded that the order for an execution scheduled Wednesday is void. Ray Jefferson Cromartie was scheduled to die...

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  • Associated Press
Chris Parks wipes away a tear while talking about the murder of his brother. Marion Wilson Jr. and Robert Earl Butts Jr. were convicted of murder and sentenced to death in the 1996 killing of 24-year-old Donovan Corey Parks.

Georgia Man At Execution: 'I Ain't Never Took A Life'

An inmate executed by the state of Georgia for a slaying decades ago said in his last moments that he never killed anyone.

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  • Associated Press
This undated photo provided by Georgia Department of Corrections shows Keith Leroy Tharpe. Tharpe, who killed his sister-in-law 27 years ago, is on Georgia's death row.

Justices Spurn Georgia Inmate, Despite Juror's Racial Slurs

The Supreme Court is rejecting a new appeal from a Georgia death row inmate, despite evidence that a juror in his capital case used racial slurs. The...

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  • Associated Press and
  • Grant Blankenship
Joseph De Rocher, the death row inmate, is played by Michael Mayes in the Atlanta production of "Dead Man Walking."

Violence, Trauma, Radical Empathy In The Atlanta Opera's 'Dead Man Walking'

The Atlanta Opera's production of "Dead Man Walking" tells the story of Sister Helen Prejean and her relationship with death row inmate Joseph de Rocher...

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Actor Michael Mayes plays Joseph De Rocher in the Atlanta Opera's production of "Dead Man Walking."

Sister Helen Prejean On Complexity Of Humanity, Death Penalty In Atlanta Opera 'Dead Man Walking'

For decades, Sister Helen Prejean has been a prominent opponent of the death penalty. She started her prison ministry in the 1980s, serving as a...

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On Second Thought For Friday, October 26, 2018

Today on the show, we explored the complicated traditions of place and space with Guardian Atlanta Week, Sonny Seiler and Anthony Ray Hinton. We viewed...

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On Second Thought For Wednesday, October 17, 2018

A new GPB radio drama and podcast called "Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Troy Davis Project" reflects the conflicting public discourse surrounding the...

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Have Politics, Public Opinion Changed Georgia's Death Penalty?

A new GPB radio drama and podcast called "Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Troy Davis Project" reflects the conflicting public discourse that surrounded the...

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Media members gathered to watch the protest of the impending execution of Troy Davis in 2011.

Radio Drama Explores 'Beyond Reasonable Doubt' In Troy Davis Case

In 1991, Troy Davis was convicted of the murder of Savannah police office Mark MacPhail and sentenced to death. The state of Georgia executed Davis in...

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On Second Thought For Tuesday, May 8, 2018

May is Older Americans Month. In 2017, Georgia ranked 41st in the nation for senior health. GPB Special Correspondent Celeste Headlee talked about the...

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