Arizona Executes Man for 1989 Murders

The 10th Execution of 2011

Eric John King was put to death on March 29, 2011 in Arizona a few hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intercede, according to United Press International.

The high court rejected King's appeal and a request for a stay of execution in a two-sentence order. The Arizona Board of Clemency refused a day earlier to hear an appeal based on questions about the use of imported sodium thiopental for the lethal injection, reported The Arizona Republic.

He died just after 10 a.m. in the state prison in Florence. He smiled at relatives and friends who witnessed the execution and said only "no" when asked if he had any last words, according to UPI.

King's lawyers fought until the end arguing the drugs to be used for the execution were classified for animals, not humans. Corrections Department Director Charles Ryan told the Republic an employee at the company importing the drugs made a mistake filling out U.S. Customs forms.

King was sentenced to death for killing a clerk and a security guard at a Short Stop store in Phoenix in 1989. He and a friend had been drinking and went to the store to buy wine. King had completed a prison term for rape only four months before the killings.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/03/29/Arizona-executes-man-for-1989-killings/UPI-49821301425151/#ixzz1I2ydA4rN