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Family friends of murder victim Ronald "R.J." Johnson gather outside the South Dakota Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Monday, Oct. 15, 2012, in anticipation of the execution of Eric Robert, Johnson's killer. Robert pleaded guilty in the April 12, 20 Amber Hunt, Associated Press
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FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2011, file photo Eric Robert appears in a Sioux Falls, S.D. court. Robert is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Monday, Oct. 15, 2012, South Dakota's first execution in five years. Robert pleaded guilty in the April 12, 2 Argus Leader, Emily Spartz, File, Associated Press
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Death-penalty opponent Elaine Engelgau holds a sign during a protest outside the South Dakota Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Monday, Oct. 15, 2012, in anticipation of the execution of Eric Robert. Robert pleaded guilty in the April 12, 2011, slayin Amber Hunt, Associated Press
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CORRECTS SPELLING OF REYNOLD - Reynold Nesiba, a death-penalty opponent, speaks to a crowd of protesters outside the South Dakota Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Monday, Oct. 15, 2012, in anticipation of the execution of Eric Robert. Robert pleaded Amber Hunt, Associated Press
By Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A South Dakota inmate has been put to death for killing a prison guard by beating him with a pipe and covering his head in plastic wrap during a failed escape attempt.

Fifty-year-old Eric Robert received lethal injection Monday night in South Dakota's first execution since 2007. That had been the state's first execution in 60 years.

Robert was put to death in the same prison where he killed guard Ronald "RJ" Johnson in April 2011. Robert was serving an 80-year sentence on a kidnapping conviction when he and inmate Rodney Berget attacked Johnson, killing the guard on his 63rd birthday. Robert and Berget were apprehended before leaving the grounds.

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Robert pleaded guilty and asked for the death penalty, saying he would kill again if he wasn't executed.

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