HOUSTON – A Utah man was executed on Thursday for the 1998 murder and sexual assault of his ex-girlfriend’s mother, the second execution this week in the United States.
“The execution warrant for Taberon Dave Honie has been carried out,” the Utah Department of Corrections said.
The execution of Honie, 48, is the western state of Utah’s first execution in 14 years.
On Wednesday Texas executed a man for the 1997 murder of a woman who was jogging in her Houston neighborhood.
Arthur Lee Burton, 54, was put to death by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, and pronounced dead at 6:47 pm, officials from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.
Burton was convicted of the July 1997 murder of Nancy Adleman, a mother of three who was attacked while out jogging.
Adleman was strangled with her own shoelaces.
Burton’s lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court to stay his execution but the request was denied without comment.
His attorneys had argued that Burton should be constitutionally exempt from being put to death because he is intellectually disabled.
“To all the people I have hurt and caused pain, I wish we didn’t have to be here at this moment, but I want you to know that I am sorry for putting y’all through this,” Burton said in his final statement.
Including Burton, Texas has carried out three executions since January and there have been 12 in the United States this year so far.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 US states, while six others — Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee — have moratoriums in place.
