• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Disabled Death Row Inmate Ate Final Meal And Prayed For Mercy Before Lethal Injection

Home> News

Updated 16:49 9 Jun 2022 GMT+1Published 10:36 9 Jun 2022 GMT+1

Disabled Death Row Inmate Ate Final Meal And Prayed For Mercy Before Lethal Injection

Frank Atwood, 66, was put to death at the state prison in Florence, Arizona on Wednesday (June 8).

Lisa McLoughlin

Lisa McLoughlin

An Arizona man convicted of murdering eight-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson in 1984 was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday (June 8).

Frank Atwood, 66, was put to death at the state prison in Florence, Arizona after the US Supreme Court cleared the way for his execution having rejected a final appeal by his lawyers.

His legal team argued that Atwood, who was in a wheelchair, would undergo excruciating suffering strapped to the gurney while lying on his back due to his degenerative spinal condition, thus violating his constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment.

However, prosecutors argued that the use of a pillow and tilting the execution gurney would 'minimise the pain Plaintiff experiences when he lies on his back'.

Advert

Frank Atwood has been executed by lethal injection.
Arizona Dept. of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry

Two weeks ago, Atwood failed to choose between lethal injection or the gas chamber, leaving him to be put to death by lethal injection, the state's default execution method, at 10.16 am local time (6.16 pm GMT), Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a statement.

ABC News reported that Atwood was accompanied through the process of being prepared for the lethal injection by a priest.

Although, he had claimed innocence throughout his sentence, he did not address the killing with his last words, witnesses said in a news conference.

It marks the state’s second execution in less than a month after Clarence Dixon's in May ended the southwestern state's eight-year hiatus.

Advert

Arizona had put executions on hiatus after the botched lethal injection of Joseph Wood in 2014, when a process that should have taken 10 minutes lasted almost two hours.

Vicki Lynne Hoskinson's body was found in the desert nearly seven months after she was last seen leaving her home in Tucson, the second-largest city in Arizona, on a bicycle to drop a birthday card in a nearby postbox in 1984.


Authorities claimed that Atwood kidnapped Vicki while experts could not determine the cause of death from the remains, according to court records. He was convicted of her murder in 1987.

Advert

Friends and neighbours of the Hoskinson family showed their support outside the prison to remember Vicki Lynne in light of Atwood’s execution.

Stacy Davis, a childhood friend of Vicki Lynne, told AZ Central: “I feel like it will be a part of a closure for my childhood.”

Meanwhile, Vicki Lynne’s mother attended Atwood's clemency hearing in May and said his execution would bring justice to their family.

Debbie Carlson said: "We chose the death penalty because we never wanted another child to have to be faced by this monster.

"We wanted to make sure another family was spared and not have to live what we have lived for the last 37-and-a-half years."

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: US News, Crime

Lisa McLoughlin
Lisa McLoughlin

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Final words of death row killer executed by lethal injection in front of wife and family
  • Killer clown John Wayne Gacy issued warning about victims in final words before lethal injection
  • Minute-by-minute account of last firing squad death as death row inmate chooses execution method
  • Final meal of death row inmate who requested rare gruesome execution method not used for 15 years

Choose your content:

6 hours ago
8 hours ago
  • 6 hours ago

    Keir Starmer speaks out after British girl sent home from school for wearing Union Jack dress on culture day

    The school has since issued an apology

    News
  • 6 hours ago

    Brit, 69, detained after ‘smuggling £350k-worth of drugs in secret compartment of his car’ into Spain

    He was said to be boarding the car ferry in Ceuta, Spain

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    Doctor reveals patient's brain turned blue after taking 'limitless pill' that's gone viral on TikTok

    People on social media have hailed the substance a ‘game changer for mental clarity and longevity’

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    Doctor shares the nine warning signs of heart failure and how to spot them

    Dr Jen Caudle has revealed the nine 'most common' symptoms of the condition

    News