Teresa Lewis
Teresa Lewis | |
---|---|
Born | |
Criminal status | Imprisoned (Pending execution on September 23, 2010) |
Conviction(s) | Conspiracy to murder, Murder. |
Criminal penalty | Death sentence |
Teresa Lewis born April 26, 1969, in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, is an American female murderer and currently the only woman on death row in Virginia.[1] Lewis was sentenced to death for hiring two men to kill her husband, Julian Clifton Lewis Jr and her stepson, Charles J. Lewis in their Pittsylvania County home on the night of October 30, 2002.[2] This was, according to a later interview, to collect life insurance money for the two men. Her two accomplances Matthew Jessee Shallenberger, 29, and his former roommate and friend Rodney Lamont Fuller, 27, were sentenced to life terms at their separate trials. But a judge deemed Lewis the crime's mastermind and called her "the head of this serpent". Lewis' IQ has been measured as low as 70.[3] Lewis' daughter, Christie Lynn Bean, served five years because she knew about the plan but remained silent.[4]
Execution
Teresa Lewis is scheduled to be executed on September 23, 2010, by lethal injection.[5] If Teresa Lewis' sentence is carried out, she would be the 12th woman to be executed in the U.S. since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976,[6][7] and the first woman in the state of Virginia to be executed since 1912, when Virginia Christian died in the electric chair, as well as the first woman in Virginia to be executed by lethal injection.[8][9] Lewis will also be the first woman to be executed in the U.S since Frances Newton in 2005, [10] and the second woman to be executed since the noted execution of serial killer Aileen Wournos in 2002 in the state of Florida.[11] On September 17, 2010, Virginia governor Bob McDonnell decided to not stop Lewis upcoming execution,[12] stating: "Having carefully reviewed the petition for clemency, the judicial opinions in this case, and other relevant materials, I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence that was imposed by the Circuit Court and affirmed by all reviewing courts".[13] An appeal was filed to the US Supreme Court for a stay of execution and subsequently rejected on September 21, 2010.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.wset.com/Global/story.asp?S=13099721
- ^ http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/virginia-to-execute-woman-for-1st-time-in-98-years/19629630
- ^ http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/teresa-lewis-virginia-woman-borderline-mental-retardation-executed/story?id=11587387
- ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20012175-504083.html
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2017362,00.html
- ^ http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/virginia-to-execute-woman-for-1st-time-in-98-years/19629630
- ^ http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/teresa-lewis-virginia-woman-borderline-mental-retardation-executed/story?id=11587387
- ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Virginia-to-execute-first-woman-in-almost-100-years-/articleshow/6599026.cms
- ^ http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/09/20/2010-09-20_teresa_lewis_first_woman_to_be_executed_by_virginia_in_nearly_100_years_begs_gov.html
- ^ http://news.spreadit.org/teresa-lewis-virginia-1st-us-execution-of-woman-since-2005/
- ^ http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/virginia-to-execute-woman-for-1st-time-in-98-years/19629630
- ^ http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/103174994.html
- ^ http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/103174994.html