A serial killer who struggled to hasten his own death -- and was forced to prove he wasn't out of his mind -- was put to death early Friday in New England's first execution in 45 years.
Michael Ross, 45, died by lethal injection after fighting off attempts by public defenders, death penalty foes and his own family to save his life.
His was the 22nd execution in the US this year. In McAlester, Oklahoma, a man convicted of beating and stabbing an Oklahoma City motel clerk and pouring acid down his throat was put to death Thursday. There were 59 executions last year in the US.
PHOTO: AFP
Ross was sent to death row for the murders of four young women and girls in Connecticut in the 1980s, and confessed to four more such slayings in Connecticut and New York. He also raped most of the women.
On Thursday, a federal appeals court in New York and the US Supreme Court rebuffed a lawsuit brought on behalf of Ross' father that claimed the execution would lead to a wave of suicide attempts among Connecticut inmates. The courts also rejected an attempt by Ross' sister to intervene in his case and stop the execution.
Death penalty opponents warned that Ross' execution could break down a political and psychological barrier against capital punishment in New England and start a domino effect in the region.
Last fall, Ross announced he was abandoning all remaining appeals -- which could have kept him alive for many years -- because his victims' families had suffered enough.
"I owe these people. I killed their daughters. If I could stop the pain, I have to do that. This is my right," the former insurance agent and Cornell graduate said last year. "I don't think there's anything crazy or incompetent about that."
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