Florida on Tuesday carried out its first execution since a botched lethal injection procedure prompted the state to revamp the way it conducts capital punishment.
Mark Dean Schwab, who was convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing an 11-year-old boy, died at 6:15 p.m.
The execution was the initial test of Florida’s new lethal injection procedure, which was instituted after Angel Diaz was executed in December 2006. Needles to inject the deadly chemicals into Diaz missed their mark and he suffered burns and extreme pain, triggering a state investigation and a moratorium.
It took 34 minutes for Diaz to die, more than twice the normal time. Schwab’s execution started at 6:03 p.m. and lasted 12 minutes.
Rhode Island: Paint ruling voided
Rhode Island’s Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a first-in-the-nation jury verdict that found three former lead paint companies responsible for creating a public nuisance, rejecting a closely-watched case that had been seen as a bellwether for potential suits across the country. The 4-0 decision ends the nearly decade-long court fight and spares the companies from potentially billions in cleanup costs for hundreds of thousands of contaminated homes. Rhode Island was the first state to successfully sue former makers of lead pigment and paint, which can cause learning disabilities, brain damage and other health problems in children. A jury in 2006 found Sherwin-Williams Co., NL Industries, Inc. and Millennium Holdings LLC liable for creating a public nuisance by manufacturing a toxic product.
Illinois: Murder suspect caught
Police and FBI agents captured an ex-convict suspected of killing eight people in two states as he smoked a cigarette outside of a southwestern Illinois bar Tuesday night, a bar employee said. Nicholas T. Sheley, who was the subject of a multistate manhunt after authorities linked him to the deaths of eight people in Illinois and Missouri, was arrested around 7 p.m. outside of Bindy’s, a Granite City bar, said bartender Katie Ronk. Sheley ordered a glass of water and went to the bathroom before another bartender and customer recognized him, Ronk said. They notified police, who arrived minutes later with FBI agents and took Sheley into custody while he smoked a cigarette outside the bar.
Massachusetts: Senator indicted
A Massachusetts grand jury has indicted a state senator on charges he allegedly sexually harassed four women one day last month. Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone said Tuesday that state Sen. James Marzilli faces charges of attempting to commit indecent assault and battery, annoying and accosting people of the opposite sex, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Prosecutors say the 50-year-old Democrat made sexually explicit remarks to the women and attempted to sexually touch one of them.
France: New EU presidency
France’s six-month European Union presidency got off to a shaky start Tuesday amid bickering between the bloc’s trade chief and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and glum comments from Poland’s leader on the EU’s future direction. Sarkozy met nearby with the European Commission, the 27-member EU executive that runs the bloc’s day-to-day business. He and European Commission President Manuel Barroso pledged to work together for projects that enjoy broad public support.
Chile: Volcano erupts
A red stream of lava flowed down the flanks of the Llaima volcano in southern Chile on Tuesday, and officials said they evacuated about a dozen people. Emergency Bureau Director Carmen Fernandez said only about 50 people live in the “first risk ring” around the 9,400-foot volcano. Llaima is one of Chile’s most active volcanos. It erupted for about two weeks in January, forcing hundreds of tourists to evacuate from Conguillio National Park but causing no damage.
Jamaica: Missionaries robbed
A U.S. Christian group said Tuesday it will find a new location for its goodwill trips to Jamaica after 39 young missionaries were robbed at gunpoint in the crime-prone capital of Kingston. The American missionaries from the Georgia-based Adventures in Missions were robbed Monday by two gunmen who broke into a Salvation Army school for the blind where they were volunteering, said school official Major Ward Matthews. The missionaries in their teens and early 20s were from Ellensburg, Wash.; Chillicothe, Ohio, and Hope Mills, N.C.
Mongolia: Emergency after vote
The president declared a four-day state of emergency in Mongolia’s capital early today after protesters stormed the headquarters of the ruling party, alleging fraud in weekend parliamentary elections. President Nambaryn Enkhbayar’s decree allowed police to use force in dealing with the thousands of rock-throwing protesters who thronged the headquarters of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party and set it on fire. The crowd had not dispersed despite repeated volleys of tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons.
Associated Press
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