The Latest: Virginia executes serial killer
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The latest on the scheduled execution of a convicted serial killer in Virginia. All times local:
9:30 p.m.
Virginia has executed a convicted serial who claimed he was intellectually disabled.
Alfredo Prieto was pronounced dead at 9:17 p.m. on Thursday at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarrat.
The 49-year-old had fought to prove that he's intellectually disabled to bar the state from putting him to death. But a federal appeals court in Virginia upheld his death sentence in June and the U.S. Supreme Court refused Thursday to block his execution.
Prieto was sentenced to death in Virginia in 2010 for the rape and murder of 22-year-old Rachael Raver and the slaying of her boyfriend Warren Fulton III more than two decades earlier.
The El Salvador native had already been on death row in California for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl at the time.
Prieto thanked his lawyers, supporters and family members before mumbling, "Get this over with."
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9 p.m.
A federal appeals court has rejected a request to halt the execution of a 49-year-old convicted serial killer in Virginia shortly before the state planned to give him a lethal injection.
Alfredo Prieto was scheduled to be executed at 9 p.m.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down an appeal from Prieto's attorneys over safety concerns about one of the lethal injection drugs that the state intends to use.
Virginia plans to use a supply of pentobarbital that it received from Texas.
Prieto's attorneys say the state has refused to provide important information about the quality of the drugs and they fear that they will cause a cruel and painful death.
Attorneys for Prieto did not immediately return requests for comment about their plans following the appeals court's ruling.
Prieto was sentenced to death in 2010 for murdering a young couple in Virginia nearly two decades earlier.
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8:45 p.m.
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring's office say a convicted serial killer has no valid legal arguments to delay his execution.
Attorneys for Herring filed a response to a last-minute emergency appeal lawyers for Alfredo Prieto filed late Thursday shortly before his scheduled 9 p.m. execution.
In their filing with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Prieto's lawyers argued a federal judge had erred earlier Thursday when he ruled that there were not sufficient legal grounds to delay Prieto's execution over safety concerns about one of the lethal injection drugs the state intends to use.
But Herring's office said the judge's decision was legally sound and correct.
Prieto was sentenced to death in 2010 for murdering a young couple in Virginia nearly two decades earlier.
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8:25 p.m.
Lawyers for convicted serial killer say a federal court judge erred in not granting a last-minute delay of the execution of their client and are asking an appeals court to overturn that decision.
Attorneys for Alfredo Prieto filed an emergency motion Thursday about an hour before their client's scheduled 9 p.m. execution at a Virginia prison.
In their filing with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Prieto's lawyers argued a federal judge had erred earlier Thursday when he ruled that there were not sufficient legal grounds to delay Prieto's execution over safety concerns about one of the lethal injection drugs the state intends to use.
Prieto was sentenced to death in 2010 for murdering a young couple in Virginia nearly two decades earlier.
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6:30 p.m.
Lawyers of a convicted serial killer are appealing a decision to allow his Virginia execution to go forward.
Alfredo Prieto's attorneys filed a last-minute notice of appeal Thursday with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals attempting to delay his execution.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson on Thursday lifted a temporary restraining order that had been granted after Prieto's attorneys raised safety concerns about one of the lethal injection drugs the state intends to use.
Hudson said Prieto's lawyers had not adequately shown that the drugs are unsafe and that it was in the public interest to proceed with the execution. Prieto's execution has been scheduled for 9 p.m.
He was sentenced to death in 2010 for murdering a young couple in Virginia more than two decades earlier.
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6 p.m.
A federal judge has cleared the way for Virginia to execute a convicted serial killer.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson on Thursday lifted an order blocking Alfredo Prieto's execution, which is scheduled for 9 p.m.
A different federal judge granted the temporary restraining order Wednesday after Prieto's attorneys raised concerns about one of the lethal injection drugs the state intends to use.
Virginia officials say there are no problems with the drugs, which they obtained from Texas's prison system.
Hudson said Prieto's lawyers had not adequately shown that the drugs are unsafe.
The U.S. Supreme Court has also rejected Prieto's request to stay the execution because he claims he is intellectually disabled.
He was sentenced to death in 2010 for murdering a young couple in Virginia more than two decades earlier.
3:40 p.m.
A federal judge says he will issue a ruling shortly on whether Virginia can execute a convicted serial killer.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson said he will decide Thursday whether to lift an order blocking Alfredo Prieto's execution, which is scheduled for 9 p.m.
Prieto's attorneys said at a court hearing Thursday they want more information about the drugs, which were obtained from Texas' prison system, to ensure they won't bring about a painful death.
A lawyer for the Virginia attorney general's office said there was no evidence anything was wrong with the drug and argued it was in the public interest, as well as the interest of Prieto's victims, to go ahead with the execution.
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10:35 a.m.
A last-minute hearing has been set in federal court to decide whether Virginia can execute a convicted serial killer.
The U.S. District Court in Richmond scheduled a 1 p.m. hearing Thursday to hear concerns raised by Alfredo Prieto's lawyers about one of the lethal injection drugs that the state intends to use.
Virginia had been planning to execute Prieto at 9 p.m. Thursday at the Greensville Correctional Center, but a federal judge in Alexandria approved an order Wednesday temporarily blocking the execution.
The case was transferred to Richmond, and U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson is now the presiding judge.
Prieto's attorneys also have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the execution, arguing that he's intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for the death penalty.
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5:30 a.m.
Attorneys for a death row inmate in Virginia are pushing to spare the 49-year-old's life as his scheduled execution nears.
The state has been planning to execute Alfredo Prieto at 9 p.m. on Thursday but it's unclear whether that will take place.
A federal judge in Alexandria approved an order Wednesday temporarily blocking Prieto's execution after his attorneys raised concerns about one of the lethal injection drugs that the state intends to use.
But the case has been transferred to a new judge in Richmond and it's uncertain what action he will take. As of late Wednesday, no hearing had been set on the matter.
Prieto's attorneys have also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the execution, arguing that he's intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for the death penalty.