First triple execution in US for 16 years carried out after one inmate delivers sobering final words to victim's daughters
Warning: This article contains details of rape, sexual assault, child abuse, domestic violence and murder which some readers may find distressing.
Three men were put to death earlier this week in the first triple execution the US has seen in 16 years, across Alabama, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
According to USA Today, three separate murderers were executed within hours of each other.
They were all executed via lethal injection, but the fact all three were on the same day was a 'very unusual' coincidence, according to the Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center, Robin Maher.
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One of the men shared some final words to the daughters of his victim at a hearing in Oklahoma last month.
Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez, 77, was executed via lethal injection and was the first to be pronounced dead at 10:13 a.m. CT in Oklahoma.
He had been on death row ever since he was found guilty of the 2003 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Olimpia Fisher, 43.
Cuesta-Rodriguez said the last thing he deserved was mercy: “You must believe that I deserve to suffer,” he said.
“And you’re right,” he said, addressing Fisher’s two daughters.
“It’s time for me to pay for what I did."
Following the injection, NBC News reports Cuesta-Rodriguez turned his head toward two relatives watching and mouthed “I love you”.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said he prays Fisher's family "finds some measure of peace after enduring 23 years of unimaginable grief.”
Fisher’s daughters, Cinthya Allen and Katya Wallis, said in a statement they hoped the execution raises awareness to preventing domestic violence.
They said they are 'raising our families to reflect the love and faith in God that she taught us.'
Fisher had been stalked and abused by Cuesta-Rodriguez as he repeatedly accused her of cheating.
Tragically, she had packed a bag and was about to leave that night with her then-pregnant 18-year-old daughter when Cuesta-Rodriguez passed out asleep on the sofa having drunk a bottle of tequila.
Fisher thought she would be safe to sleep through the night, but he awoke at 4.30am and shot her.
As police raced to the scene and tried to break in to save Fisher, who was still alive at the time, he callously shot her again.
Following Cuesta-Rodriguez's execution, Anthony Hines, 66, was put to death for murdering a mother of four, Catherine Jean Jenkins, 54, back in 1985.
He was pronounced dead at 10:34 a.m. CT.
Evil Hines had stabbed Jenkins while she was cleaning a motel room, before he stole $100 cash from her.
He confessed to stealing her car and the money, but always maintained that he was not responsible for her death.
Later that afternoon, in Alabama, Jeremy Williams, 42, was put to death for the raping and murdering a 5-year-old girl in 2021.
Williams was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. CT.
He had been found guilty of taking littlw Kamarie Holland, 5, from her home, after sickeningly paying Holland's own mother so he could sexually abuse her, according to the police.
Her mother, Kristy Siple, was sentenced to 20 years in prison sentence after pleading guilty to human sex trafficking.
Police believe Siple wanted the money to buy drugs.
Horrifyingly, Williams forced the little girl to smoke meth before assaulting her, strangling her and then continuing his assault.
He had ordered his legal team not to appeal the death sentence he was given, and he was then only on death row for five years.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement: “There are few words to adequately describe the depth and depravity of Jeremy Williams’ evil act,"
"Kamarie Holland is an innocent girl who is no longer with us, but she finally received justice tonight. May God bless little Kamarie Holland.”
USA Today found that of 94 executions which have taken place since 2024, 64% of the victims involved were women and girls,
The last triple-execution took place on January 7, 2010.
Three people were put to death in Ohio, Texas and Louisiana on that occasion.
It follows a double execution in Florida last month, which was the first in nearly a decade.
Former police officer James Duckett, 68, had been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl while he was on duty back in 1987.
Dominick Occhicone, 80, shot his ex-girlfriends parents in 1986.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247, available 24/7, or via live chat, available 10am-10pm, Monday to Friday.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 500 222, available 24/7. If you are currently in danger or need urgent medical attention, you should call 999.
Last words of famous death row inmates
Ted Bundy
Bundy was sentenced to death for assaulting and murdering dozens of young women and girls across several states during the 1970s.
After maintaining his innocence for more than a decade, Bundy officially confessed to 30 murders shortly before his execution, seemingly in a last-minute bid to buy more time.
On 25 January, 1989, the 42-year-old was executed by the electric chair at Florida State Prison.
Addressing his lawyer Jim Coleman and Methodist minister Fred Lawrence, who had spent Bundy’s final night with him praying, the serial killer said: “Jim and Fred, I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.”
Aileen Wuornos
Wuornos was a sex worker who shot and killed seven men along Florida highways between 1989 and 1990.
Following a highly publicised trial, she was convicted of first-degree murder for six of the killings and executed at Florida State Prison on 9 October, 2002.
Before her death, Wuornos said: “I'd just like to say I'm sailing with the rock, and I'll be back like Independence Day, with Jesus June 6. Like the movie, big mother ship and all, I'll be back.”
John Spenkelink
Spenkelink was convicted of first-degree murder after killing his travelling companion, Joseph Szymankiewicz, in a Florida motel room on February 4, 1973.
Despite extensive failed appeals, he was executed via the electric chair at Florida State Prison on May 25, 1979.
At the age of 30, Spenkelink’s reported last words were: “Capital punishment - them without the capital get the punishment.”
William Bonin
Known as the ‘Freeway Killer’, Bonin raped, tortured, and murdered at least 21 boys and young men between 1979 and 1980, dumping their bodies alongside various highways in Southern California.
He was convicted of 14 murders and was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison on 23 February, 1996.
When asked for his last words, Bonin, 49, told the warden: “That I feel the death penalty is not an answer to the problems at hand. That I feel it sends the wrong message to the youth of the country.
“Young people act as they see other people acting instead of as people tell them to act. And I would suggest that when a person has a thought of doing anything serious against the law, that before they did, that they should go to a quiet place and think about it seriously.”
Clarence Ray Allen
Allen was handed capital punishment in 1982 after ordering a triple murder while serving a life sentence for arranging the 1974 murder of Mary Sue Kitts, a potential witness against him in a burglary case.
At 76 years old, Allen was put to death via lethal injection at California’s San Quentin State Prison on 17 January, 2006.
“My last words will be, Hoka Hey, it's a good day to die. Thank you very much. I love you all. Goodbye,” his final statement read. It was the state’s last execution.
Topics: Crime, True Crime, Domestic Abuse, US News
Jen Thomas