Temporary Stays Issued for Two on Death Row
Gov. Jeb Bush issued a temporary stay of execution for one of the nation’s only female serial killers because of questions about whether Aileen Wuornos is mentally competent to drop her appeals.
Bush also issued a similar stay for Rigoberto Sanchez-Velasco, a triple killer who also dropped his appeals. He had been scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday, and Wuornos, convicted a decade ago in a widely publicized series of killings, was set to die Oct. 9.
However, both executions will be carried out as scheduled if three psychiatrists who examine the death row inmates today conclude that the condemned killers are competent to be executed.
Under state law, the standard for competency is understanding that execution will result in death and why the sentence is being imposed.
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