A convicted killer in the United States of America, Daniel Lewis Lee, was executed today, July 14 2020, in the first federal execution in 17 years after the Supreme Court issued an overnight ruling that it could proceed.
Lee was pronounced dead by the coroner at 8:07 a.m. in Terre Haute, Indiana. His last words were “I didn’t do it. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life but I’m not a murderer. You’re killing an innocent man,” according to a pool report.
The Supreme Court cleared the way for the resumption of the federal death penalty in an unsigned order released after 2 a.m. on Tuesday.
The court wiped away a lower court order temporarily blocking the execution of Lee in a 5-4 vote.
Lee, a one-time white supremacist who killed a family of three, was scheduled to be executed on Monday. A federal judge blocked the planned execution of Lee, and three others, citing ongoing challenges to the federal government’s lethal injection protocol.
Ruth Friedman, Lee’s attorney, said in a statement, “It is shameful that the government saw fit to carry out this execution during a pandemic.”
“It is shameful that the government saw fit to carry out this execution when counsel for Danny Lee could not be present with him, and when the judges in his case and even the family of his victims urged against it,” Friedman said.
“And it is beyond shameful that the government, in the end, carried out this execution in haste, in the middle of the night, while the country was sleeping. We hope that upon awakening, the country will be as outraged as we are.”
An appeal seeking to delay the execution that involved family of Lee’s victims who were concerned about traveling and going to a federal prison during the coronavirus pandemic was also denied by the Supreme Court in an order Tuesday morning.
Attorney General, William P. Barr, issued the following statement after the execution:
“This morning, in the first federal execution in 17 years, Daniel Lewis Lee was executed by lethal injection at FCI Terre Haute in accordance with a death sentence imposed by a federal district court in 1999.
“Lee, a member of a white supremacist organization, brutally murdered William Frederick Mueller and Nancy Ann Mueller, along with her eight-year-old daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Powell. After robbing and shooting them with a stun gun, Lee duct-taped plastic bags around their heads, weighed down each victim with rocks, and drowned the family in the Illinois bayou.
“On May 4, 1999, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas found Lee guilty of numerous offenses, including three counts of murder in aid of racketeering, and he was sentenced to death. Today, Lee finally faced the justice he deserved.
“The American people have made the considered choice to permit capital punishment for the most egregious federal crimes, and justice was done today in implementing the sentence for Lee’s horrific offenses.”
Also, a statement by the Department of Justice Spokesperson, Kerri Kupec, read:
“Today, Daniel Lewis Lee faced the justice he deserved. Although Lee’s execution was originally scheduled to occur on Monday at 4:00 pm, a district court’s last-minute preliminary injunction required the Department of Justice to seek emergency vacatur from the Supreme Court.
“After receiving the green-light early on Tuesday morning, the Federal Bureau of Prisons began preparing Lee for the execution; however, a last-minute procedural claim by Lee’s attorney resulted in an additional delay. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ultimately rejected his claim, clearing the way for his execution. He was pronounced dead at 8:07 am.
“The Attorney General appreciates the hard work, dedication, and professionalism demonstrated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons; the United States Marshals Service; and the law enforcement and legal teams that investigated and prosecuted Lee, and that for many years defended the government’s duty to carry out this lawful sentence.”
