A divided U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for a second federal execution this week—in another middle-of-the-night ruling—siding against the death row inmate on several issues including his mental competency and his Buddhist priest’s plea to halt the execution during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Wesley Ira Purkey, a 68-year-old with Alzheimer’s disease, was executed at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., on Thursday morning at 8:19 a.m., according to local reports from media witnesses.
The execution came roughly five hours after the court’s Republican-appointed majority, without comment, vacated two trial court injunctions, clearing the way for his execution over two ...