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Agence France-Presse

A Mississippi man who had been on death row for nearly 50 years was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday, one of two executions in the United States this week.
Richard Jordan, 79, was convicted in 1976 of the murder of Edwina Marter, the wife of a bank executive in the town of Gulfport.
Jordan, a shipyard worker, kidnapped Marter from her home and demanded a US$25,000 ransom.
He was apprehended when he went to pick up the money.

Jordan confessed to murdering Marter and led the authorities to her body, which had been hidden in a forest. She had been shot.
The execution at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman began at 6pm, according to prison officials. Jordan lay on the gurney with his mouth slightly ajar and took several deep breaths before becoming still. The time of death was given as 6.16pm.
When given an opportunity to make a final statement Wednesday, he said: “First I would like to thank everyone for a humane way of doing this. I want to apologise to the victim’s family”.
He also thanked his lawyers and his wife and asked for forgiveness. His last words were: “I will see you on the other side, all of you”.
He was Mississippi’s longest-serving and oldest death row inmate at the time of his execution.
His execution came one day after that of Thomas Gudinas, 51, who was put to death by lethal injection in Florida on Tuesday.
Gudinas was sentenced to death in 1995 for the murder of Michelle McGrath, who was last seen leaving a bar in the city of Orlando in the early hours.
McGrath’s battered body was found the next day, and Gudinas was arrested shortly afterwards.
Florida has carried out more executions - seven - than any other US state so far this year.
The execution in Mississippi was the first in the southern state since December 2022.
There have been 25 executions in the United States this year: 20 by lethal injection, two by firing squad and three by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.
The use of nitrogen gas as an execution method has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others - California, Oregon and Pennsylvania - have moratoriums in place.
President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment, and on his first day in office called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes”.
Additional reporting by Associated Press


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United States

US man who spent nearly 50 years on death row executed

The gurney in the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. There have been 25 executions in the United States this year. File photo: AP

Richard Jordan. Photo: Mississippi Department of Corrections via AFP

The gurney in the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. There have been 25 executions in the United States this year. Photo: AP

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United States & Canada

Richard Jordan, Mississippi’s longest-serving and oldest death row inmate, was put to death by lethal injection


Richard Jordan, Mississippi’s longest-serving and oldest death row inmate, was put to death by lethal injection.


Crime

Human rights

Florida

US man who spent nearly 50 years on death row executed

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Richard Jordan, Mississippi’s longest-serving and oldest death row inmate, was put to death by lethal injection

Richard Jordan, Mississippi’s longest-serving and oldest death row inmate, was put to death by lethal injection