The 7th Execution of 2016
Travis Hittson, a former Navy crewman was executed on
February 17, 2016 in Georgia for killing a fellow sailor whose remains were
found buried in two states. reported The Associated Press.
Hittson, 45, was declared dead at 8:14 p.m. by Warden Bruce
Chatman after receiving an injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital at the
state prison in Jackson. He was convicted in the April 1992 killing of Conway
Utterbeck.
When Chatman asked if he wanted to make a final statement in
front of witnesses, Hittson said, "No, sir. I'm alright." He then
agreed to have a prayer read.
Georgia doesn't announce exactly when the lethal drugs begin
flowing, and the injection isn't visible to observers. But the warden left the
execution chamber at 8:04 p.m., and records from past executions show the
lethal drug generally begins to flow within a minute or two of the warden's
departure.
Hittson blinked repeatedly for several minutes and then
appeared to take several deep breaths before becoming still about four minutes
after the warden left the execution chamber.
Hittson's lawyers had said he was mistreated and neglected
as a child and constantly craved the approval of others. That, they said,
combined with alcoholism and relatively low intelligence, made it easy for his
direct supervisor in the Navy, Edward Vollmer, to manipulate him into killing
Utterbeck.
The State Board of Pardons and Paroles, which is the only
entity in Georgia authorized to commute a death sentence, on Tuesday denied
Hittson's request for clemency. The board didn't give a reason for the denial,
which is standard.
Hittson's lawyers also contended in a court filing that his
constitutional rights were violated during sentencing when a judge allowed a
state psychologist who had examined Hittson to recount damaging statements
Hittson had made about Utterbeck.
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