Nevada Executes Man Who Refused Appeals
A South African national convicted of killing his estranged wife’s lover in the desert outside Las Vegas was executed Saturday night.
Sebastian Stephanus Bridges, 37, was executed at the Nevada State Prison with an injection of three lethal substances. The execution had been delayed for several minutes as Bridges’ minister and lawyer tried desperately to get him to appeal. Bridges could be heard screaming, “I will not stop it!”
A few minutes later, strapped on the gurney, Bridges raised his head and turned to the witnesses. “This is murder,” he said.
Bridges was convicted in the shooting death of Hunter Blatchford. He had alleged that his estranged wife, Laurie, who testified against him, committed the crime but said he took the blame out of “fatal, unconditional love” for her.
Bridges, who had refused to give any interviews, had insisted in a final statement that he wasn’t suicidal even though he wouldn’t take advantage of available appeals.
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