Virginia executes man for killing guard, deputy in 2006

(Reuters) - The state of Virginia executed a man yesterday convicted of the 2006 killings of a security guard and a sheriff’s deputy, despite claims that he was mentally ill and questions over whether the execution drugs would work as planned.

William Morva, 35, was pronounced dead at 9.15 pm EDT (0115 GMT), Virginia Department of Corrections spokeswoman Lisa Kinney said. Morva declined to make a final statement, she said.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe refused to block the execution earlier yesterday, saying that examinations by prison doctors since Morva’s 2008 conviction had shown no sign that he suffered from severe mental illness or delusional disorder, an ailment akin to schizophrenia, as his lawyers had claimed.

Morva’s death sentence, for killing an unarmed security guard and a sheriff’s deputy in a 2006 escape from custody, had triggered renewed debate about capital punishment.

“The record before me does not contain sufficient evidence to warrant the extraordinary step of overturning the decision of a lawfully impaneled jury following a properly conducted trial,” McAuliffe, a Democrat, said in a statement.

A review of the autopsy of Ricky Gray, a Virginia inmate executed in January, showed fluid in his lungs and blood on his lips, suggesting the drugs had not stopped his heart quickly as intended, the newspaper said. A spokesman for McAuliffe did not respond to a request for comment.