California executes double-murderer

California executes double-murderer

SAN QUENTIN, California (AP): Double-murderer Robert Lee
Massie was executed by injection early on Tuesday after spending
28 years as a condemned man, longer than any inmate now on death
row in California.

Massie, who had spent 21 years seeking to overturn his
convictions, formally dropped his appeals last year to protest
what he called the snail's pace of the California death penalty
system.

Massie, 59, pumped his fist to help his executioners find a
vein, and told the warden he was ready to die. "Forgiveness:
giving up all hope for a better past," were his last words.

Massie was sentenced to death for the 1979 murder of a San
Francisco liquor store owner. He had been paroled a year earlier
after serving 13 years in prison for the shooting death of a
woman during a robbery in the Los Angeles area.