First federal prisoner in 17 years executed hours after Supreme Court decision

Daniel Lewis Lee on Tuesday became the first federal prisoner executed in more than 17 years, just hours after the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against a last-minute attempt to halt the execution.

Lee, 47, a white supremacist convicted of killing a family of three in 1996, was executed by lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., and pronounced dead at 8:07 a.m., according to the Bureau of Prisons.

“You’re killing an innocent man,” Lee said with his final words, according to a reporter with the Indianapolis Star who witnessed the execution. Continue reading.