US woman executed for two murders

The US state of Virginia is preparing for the execution of Teresa Lewis, who is set to become the first woman to be put to death in the US for five years and in Virginia since 1912.

Lewis admitted to conspiring to murder her husband and stepson.

The 41-year-old, who has learning difficulties, used sex and cash to persuade hitmen to kill her family.

Despite appeals from the European Union, Lewis is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 2100 (0100 GMT).

On 30 October 2002, Lewis left the door to her family home unlocked for gunmen Matthew Shallenberger and Rodney Fuller.

Lewis’s husband, Julian Lewis, 51, and stepson, Charles Lewis, 25, were later found dead from shotgun blasts in Danville, Virginia.

Lawyers for Lewis filed a petition for executive clemency on 25 August 2010, but the US Supreme Court refused to intervene. Two of three women in the nine-judge court voted to halt the execution.

Lewis, who has an IQ of 72, has caught the media’s attention because of her gender, claims that she does not possess the intelligence to have planned the killings, and new defence evidence allegedly proving one of the gunmen manipulated her.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said medical and psychological reports provided no compelling reason to grant clemency to Lewis, noting she had admitted her role in the killings.

“After numerous evaluations, no medical professional has concluded that Teresa Lewis meets the medical or statutory definition of mentally retarded,” Mr McDonnell said after he rejected the clemency plea.

Lewis was motivated to hire the gunmen by the desire to inherit her husband’s assets and her stepson’s life insurance. She paid for the weapons and ammunition used in the murders.

Mr Shallenberger and Mr Fuller have both been sentenced to life in prison.

The lethal injection is due to be administered at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia.

Virginia carries out the second highest number of executions of any state in the US.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.