Mississippi executes killer of two

The 3rd Execution of 2012

Edwin Hart Turner was executed in Mississippi for two 1995 killings after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-minute stay.

Court records show that Turner and an accomplice who later received a life sentence were drinking beer and smoking marijuana in Carroll County in December 1995, when they decided to rob convenience stores. Two people were killed, reported Reuters.

After the murders, the two men shared $400 in stolen cash, ate cinnamon rolls and shrimp, and went to sleep at Turner's home.

After the 1995 killings, police investigators suspected Turner's involvement in the crimes after witnesses said one of the perpetrators wore a towel around his head. Turner regularly wore a towel on his head to hide a facial disfigurement that resulted from a suicide attempt.

After police discovered guns used in the crimes and a hockey mask, accomplice Paul M. Stewart confessed and received two consecutive life sentences. He testified against Turner in court.

Relatives of the two men killed in the robberies, Eddie Brooks and Everett Curry, witnessed the execution.

"This evening, after 16 years, we feel that justice, although delayed, has finally been served for the horrendous crime done to our family," Roy Curry, Everett Curry's brother, said in a statement on behalf of his family, according to Reuters.

"This awful person brutally murdered a beloved husband, father and brother. The hurt and pain are just as real to us now as on that day 16 years ago."

For his last meal, Turner requested a medium-rare porterhouse steak, fried shrimp with cocktail sauce, two slices of Texas toast, a side salad with Russian dressing, a pack of Twizzlers candy, and sweet tea, according to the Department of Corrections. Turner had no final words before his death, reported Reuters.

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