Washington - Robert Jackson, a 38-year-old white male sentenced to death for the axe murder of a woman in 1992, was executed by lethal injection early on Friday, prison officials in the eastern US state of Delaware announced.
Jackson was pronounced dead at 12.12am local time (04.12 GMT). He had exhausted all legal appeals, and Delaware Governor Jack Markell did not pardon him.
Asked if he had any last words, the condemned man professed his innocence, telling witnesses to his execution, “you're about to watch an innocent man die. This isn't justice.”
Jackson's body was released to the State's Medical Examiner's Office, as is standard practice.
According to court documents, he killed Katherine Girardi with an axe during a home robbery in 1992. Along with his accomplice Anthony Lachette, Jackson planned to buy drugs with the money they could get from selling the stolen items.
According to the Delaware Department of Corrections, Jackson spent his last days reading, writing letters, talking to staff and visiting with family and his attorneys. For his last meal, he ate steak, baked potato, potato skins, corn and soda.
The last execution in Delaware, one of the smallest US states, took place in 2005 according to John Painter, a spokesman for Delaware's Department of Corrections.
It was the 30th execution in the United States since the beginning of the year. - Sapa-AFP