ATMORE, Ala. (AP) - The Latest on the scheduled execution of (all times local):
8:42 p.m.
Alabama has executed the oldest U.S. inmate to be put to death in modern times, an 83-year-old man convicted of a federal judge’s mail-bomb slaying.
Authorities say Walter Leroy Moody Jr. was pronounced dead at 8:42 p.m. CDT Thursday after a lethal injection. He made no final statement and did not respond when a prison official asked him if he had any last words.
The non-profit Death Penalty Information Center says Moody became the oldest inmate put to death in the United States since the resumption of U.S. executions in the 1970s. Moody was convicted of killing U.S. Circuit Judge Robert S. Vance of Birmingham, who died when he opened a package mailed to his home in 1989.
Prosecutors have described Moody as a meticulous planner who committed murder by mail because of his obsession with getting revenge on the legal system. He also was convicted in federal court for a bombing that killed Robert E. Robinson, a black civil rights attorney from Savannah, Georgia.
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7:20 p.m.
The U.S. Supreme Court says it will not stand in the way of the planned execution of an 83-year-old Alabama inmate from going forward.
Justices on Thursday evening lifted a temporary stay that had delayed the execution of Walter Leroy Moody.
Moody is scheduled to receive a lethal injection for the 1989 mail-bomb slaying of U.S. Circuit Judge Robert S. Vance of Birmingham. The U.S. Supreme Court had delayed the execution, originally set for 6 p.m. CDT, to consider Moody’s last-minute appeals.
If the execution is carried out, Moody will become the oldest inmate put to death in the U.S. since the nation resumed executions in the 1970s.
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7 p.m.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has decided not to grant clemency to a condemned inmate who could become the oldest person put to death in the modern age of the death penalty in the United States.
Ivey’s attorney wrote in a letter Thursday to the inmate’s legal team that the governor has determined that clemency is “unwarranted” for 83-year-old Walter Leroy Moody.
Moody was scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. CDT for the 1989 mail-bomb death of U.S. Circuit Judge Robert S. Vance of Birmingham. The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily stayed the execution to consider Moody’s last-minute appeals.
Moody’s attorneys argued that lethal injection will be difficult because of his age. They also argued that Vance was personally opposed to the death penalty. Ivey’s office wrote that it is impossible to know if venous access can be achieved, until it is attempted.
If the execution is carried out, Moody will become the oldest inmate put to death in the U.S. since the nation resumed executions in the 1970s.
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6 p.m.
The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily delayed the planned execution of an Alabama man convicted of a judge’s mail-bomb slaying.
The nation’s highest court issued the stay order Thursday evening on behalf of 83-year-old inmate Walter Leroy Moody as it considered his requests to block the lethal injection procedure. His execution time was originally set for 6 p.m. CDT.
It is not uncommon for the court to temporarily stay an execution as it considers an inmate’s final appeals. Moody has argued that his federal sentence of multiple life sentences could not be interrupted by the state of Alabama.
The court is expected to rule later whether the execution plan can proceed.
Moody is set to die for the 1989 mail-bomb death of U.S. Circuit Judge Robert S. Vance of Birmingham.
If the sentence is carried out, Moody will become the oldest inmate put to death since the United States resumed executions in the 1970s.
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3:10 p.m.
A man who would become the oldest U.S. inmate put to death in modern times is telling a court he has vein problems, hours before he’s scheduled to die by lethal injection in Alabama.
A lawyer for 83-year-old Walter Leroy Moody Jr. made the claim in seeking a stay from the Alabama Supreme Court on Thursday.
The request says an emergency medical technician visited Moody in a cell on Wednesday to check his extremities. The document says the worker told Moody he has “spider veins” and seemed concerned.
Alabama’s execution of a 61-year-old inmate was stopped last month because workers couldn’t find a usable vein.
Moody is set to die for the 1989 mail-bomb death of U.S. Circuit Judge Robert S. Vance of Birmingham.
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12:45 p.m.
An Alabama inmate is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his upcoming execution.
Attorneys for Walter Leroy Moody, Jr. on Thursday asked justices to stay the execution to review whether Moody’s federal sentence of multiple life terms can be interrupted for Alabama to carry out his execution. Moody is scheduled to be put to death Thursday evening by lethal injection.
Authorities said Moody mailed out four package bombs in 1989 including one that killed Robert Vance, a federal judge. The 83-year-old Moody was convicted first in federal court and sentenced to seven life sentences plus 400 years. He was later convicted in state court of capital murder and sentenced to death.
U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions has told Alabama officials that they can have full custody of Moody to carry out his death sentence.
Moody’s attorneys argued that Sessions, under federal law, cannot interrupt a federal sentence before its completion.
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10 p.m.
A package bomber who created a wave of terror across the South in the 1980s is scheduled to be executed in Alabama.
The execution is set to happen nearly 30 years after Walter Leroy Moody Jr. killed a federal judge with a bomb mailed to his home.
The 83-year-old Moody is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday. Moody was convicted of killing Judge Robert S. Vance.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Moody will be the oldest inmate put to death in the United States in modern times.
Moody was also convicted in federal court of killing a black civil rights attorney from Savannah, Georgia, and mailing a bomb to a civil rights organization.
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