Executions

FILE - This March 25, 2017, file photo, shows a sign for the Department of Correction's Cummins Unit prison in Varner, Ark. Death-row inmate Kenneth Williams is scheduled to die at the prison unit Thursday, April 27, 2017, for the killing of a former deputy prison warden following an escape. If Williams is put to death, it would be the fourth execution for Arkansas since April 20. (AP Photo/Kelly P. Kissel, File)
April 27, 2017 - 6:59 pm

The Latest: Arkansas inmate receives communion for last meal

VARNER, Ark. (AP) — The Latest on Arkansas' effort to execute a fourth inmate before its supply of a lethal injection drug expires on Sunday (all times local): 5:45 p.m. A prison spokesman says an Arkansas inmate scheduled to be the fourth executed in a week opted to receive communion instead of a...
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FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows death-row inmate Kenneth Williams. Williams' scheduled execution on April 27, 2017 won't move forward, according to a spokesman for Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. Rutledge said the state will not appeal a federal judge's order staying the execution. (Arkansas Department of Correction via AP)
April 27, 2017 - 6:08 pm

Arkansas prepares to wrap up aggressive execution schedule

VARNER, Ark. (AP) — The last inmate set to die under Arkansas' compressed execution timetable looked to state and federal courts Thursday in final bids to save his life. Kenneth Williams, 38, is scheduled to die at 7 p.m. Thursday. Court filings Thursday afternoon followed two threads: that...
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FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows death-row inmate Kenneth Williams. Williams' scheduled execution on April 27, 2017 won't move forward, according to a spokesman for Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. Rutledge said the state will not appeal a federal judge's order staying the execution. (Arkansas Department of Correction via AP)
April 27, 2017 - 12:48 pm

Arkansas prepares to wrap up aggressive execution schedule

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas will reach the end of an aggressive execution schedule Thursday as it prepares for a fourth lethal injection in eight days after initially planning twice as many over an 11-day period. Kenneth Williams, 38, is set to die for killing a former deputy warden following...
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Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, center, speaks at a news conference Wednesday, April 26, 2017, with his attorneys about a letter he's sent to two panels seeking an investigation into Arkansas' attorney general and Supreme Court over his removal from hearing death penalty cases. Griffen was removed from the cases after he participated in an anti-death penalty demonstration the same day he blocked Arkansas from using a lethal injection drug. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)
April 27, 2017 - 1:15 am

Arkansas prepares to conclude aggressive execution schedule

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas will reach the end of an aggressive execution schedule Thursday as it prepares for a fourth lethal injection in a week after initially planning twice as many over an 11-day period. Kenneth Williams, 38, is set to die for killing a former deputy warden following an...
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Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, center, speaks at a news conference Wednesday, April 26, 2017, with his attorneys about a letter he's sent to two panels seeking an investigation into Arkansas' attorney general and Supreme Court over his removal from hearing death penalty cases. Griffen was removed from the cases after he participated in an anti-death penalty demonstration the same day he blocked Arkansas from using a lethal injection drug. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)
April 27, 2017 - 1:13 am

Arkansas prepares to conclude aggressive execution schedule

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas is reaching the end of its aggressive execution schedule. Kenneth Williams is scheduled to die at 7 p.m. Thursday for the death of a former deputy warden killed after Williams escaped from prison in 1999. Williams was being held for the death of a college...
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FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows death-row inmate Kenneth Williams. Williams' scheduled execution on April 27, 2017 won't move forward, according to a spokesman for Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. Rutledge said the state will not appeal a federal judge's order staying the execution. (Arkansas Department of Correction via AP)
April 26, 2017 - 7:50 pm

Arkansas' set to conclude executions with 4th on Thursday

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas' aggressive effort to execute condemned inmates is set to conclude Thursday after the state Supreme Court refused to halt the execution of a man who killed a former deputy prison warden following an escape. Kenneth Williams, 38, was sentenced to death for killing...
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April 26, 2017 - 6:18 pm

Family buy plane tickets for condemned inmate's daughter

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Family members of a man whose death was caused by Arkansas condemned killer Kenneth Williams said they've forgiven him — and bought plane tickets so the condemned man's daughter and granddaughter could visit before his scheduled execution Thursday. Michael Greenwood was...
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FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows death-row inmate Jack Jones, who is one of two Arkansas killers set to die Monday, April 24, 2017, in the nation's first double execution in more than 16 years. Jones was given the death penalty for the 1995 rape and killing of Mary Phillips. (Arkansas Department of Correction via AP, File)
April 26, 2017 - 2:21 am

New issue in executions: Should the death chamber be silent?

VARNER, Ark. (AP) — The nation's first double execution in more than 16 years raised a new issue involving transparency and the death penalty: Should witnesses be allowed to hear what goes on in the death chamber? A lawyer who watched Monday's executions in Arkansas said he saw an inmate open his...
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FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows death-row inmate Jack Jones, who is one of two Arkansas killers set to die Monday, April 24, 2017, in the nation's first double execution in more than 16 years. Jones was given the death penalty for the 1995 rape and killing of Mary Phillips. (Arkansas Department of Correction via AP, File)
April 25, 2017 - 7:34 pm

New issue in executions: Should the death chamber be silent?

VARNER, Ark. (AP) — The nation's first double execution in more than 16 years raised a new issue involving transparency and the death penalty: Should witnesses be allowed to hear what goes on in the death chamber? A lawyer who watched Monday's executions in Arkansas said he saw an inmate open his...
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FILE - This combination of undated file photos provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows death-row inmates Jack Jones, left, and Marcel Williams. The two Arkansas inmates scheduled to be put to death Monday, April 24, 2017, in what could be the nation's first double execution in more than 16 years have asked an appeals court to halt their lethal injections because of poor health. (Arkansas Department of Correction via AP, File)
April 25, 2017 - 8:33 am

Arkansas conducts nation's 1st double execution since 2000

VARNER, Ark. (AP) — After going nearly 12 years without executing an inmate, Arkansas now has executed three in a few days — including two in one night. Jack Jones and Marcel Williams received lethal injections on the same gurney Monday night, just about three hours apart. It was the first double...
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