A 41-year-old American, sentenced to death for two murders committed a few hours apart in 2002, was executed Thursday in Oklahoma, announced the prison administration of this state in the southern United States.
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Michael Smith was executed by lethal injection shortly after 10 a.m. local time (3 p.m. GMT) at the state penitentiary in the town of McAlester, the prison service said.
This is the first execution since the start of the year in Oklahoma, and the fourth in the United States, in addition to the one canceled at the last minute on February 28 in Idaho (northwest), due to lack of administer the lethal solution to the condemned person within the legal time limit.
Michael Smith was sentenced to death in 2003 for the murders of Janet Moore and Sharath Babu Pulluru on February 22, 2002 in Oklahoma City.
According to the prosecution, he actually targeted Janet Moore’s son, who was not at home that day, and attacked Sharath Babu Pulluru because he wrongly suspected him of having spoken to journalists about a robbery.
After confessing to the two murders during police questioning, Michael Smith, who was also wanted for another homicide, proclaimed his innocence and claimed not to remember his arrest because he was under the influence of drugs. .
Oklahoma resumed capital executions in 2021 after a six-year moratorium due to botched executions in 2014 and 2015.
A total of 24 executions were carried out in the United States in 2023, all by lethal injection.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 out of 50 American states. Six others (Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee) observe a moratorium on executions by decision of the governor.
