Wrap it up
Shortly before 1:30 this morning, the 13th federal inmate in the past seven months was put to death at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Dustin Higgs died by lethal injection for ordering the murder of three women in Maryland roughly 25 years ago. Higgs’ execution was the third one this week. Based on promises made by Joe Biden during his presidential campaign and pending legislation being drafted by congressional Democrats, this was very likely the last federal execution we will see for quite some time to come. Members of both Higgs’ family and the families of his victims were present when the sentence was carried out. Higgs’ execution followed that of a mass killer and drug trafficker named Corey Johnson by barely a day. (Associated Press) The Trump administration early Saturday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden — an opponent of the federal death penalty. Dustin Higgs, convicted of ordering the killings of three women in a Maryland wildlife refuge in 1996, was the third to receive a lethal injection this week at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. President Donald Trump’s Justice Department resumed federal executions last year following a 17-year hiatus. No president in more than 120 years had overseen as many federal executions. Much like the execution of Lisa Montgomery on Tuesday, Higgs’ departure from the land of the living appeared to go smoothly. Witnesses described his eyes “rolling back in his head” before falling silent and expiring without any visible signs of distress.
