John Ruthell Henry has received a lethal injection at Florida State Prison, becoming the third inmate to be put to death since the botched execution of an Oklahoma prisoner in April set off a flurry of legal challenges.
The Florida governor's office says Henry, 63, was pronounced dead at 7:43 p.m. ET after a last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was turned down.
He was convicted of fatally stabbing his wife, Suzanne Henry, and her 5-year-old son in 1985.
His execution follows Marcus Wellons' lethal injection late Tuesday in Georgia and the execution of John Winfield early Wednesday in Missouri.
As we've reported in the past, Clayton Lockett's execution in April revived a national debate over the death penalty in general and lethal injection in particular. A shortage of execution drugs has been prompted by drug companies' stopping the supply, citing political and physical threats. States, therefore, have turned to novel combinations for executions and have refused to reveal the names of their suppliers out of fear that doing so would jeopardize the relationship.
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