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Judge postpones execution of inmate who was set to be first federal prisoner put to death in 17 years

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A federal judge postponed the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee, a convicted killer who had been set to be the first federal inmate executed in over 17 years.
Lee, a one-time white supremacist who killed a family of three, had originally been scheduled for execution in December, but his case was delayed after the courts blocked the death sentence from being carried out.
Earlene Peterson — whose daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law were tortured, killed and dumped in a lake by Lee and an accomplice — has opposed Lee’s execution, telling CNN last year that she did not want it done in her name.
Peterson, 81, and other family members had filed suit on Tuesday, asking the Indianapolis court to delay the execution because they are medically vulnerable to the virus and arguing that traveling to Indiana to witness the execution would place them „at grave risk of life-threatening complications from COVID-19.“
In a statement Friday after the ruling, an attorney for Peterson and the other family members said they „are grateful to the court for this ruling, which will enable them to exercise their right to attend the execution in the future while protecting themselves against the ravages of COVID-19.

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