Joseph Roger O'Dell III went to his death proclaiming his joy at getting married and his innocence in the 1985 rape and murder of a secretary.
With syringes in both arms and leather belts binding him to a gurney Wednesday night, O'Dell said in a loud, clear voice: "Governor Allen, you're killing an innocent man."With death only moments away, O'Dell said he had lived "the happiest day of my life because I got married to my wife."
Gov. George Allen had refused to grant clemency despite pleas from Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II and the government of Italy to stop the execution. The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected last-minute appeals.
O'Dell, 54, was executed for the 1985 murder of Helen Schartner, a 44-year-old Virginia Beach secretary.
"Eddie, I did not kill your mother," O'Dell said, referring to Schartner's son, who was believed to have watched the execution.
The case was covered closely by media from Italy, where opposition to capital punishment runs high. Lori Urs, the Boston University law student O'Dell married in a cellblock next to the death chamber, had trumpeted his cause with the media there.
In Rome, hundreds gathered in a public square to demonstrate against capital punishment as O'Dell was put to death.