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Department of Correction cancels scheduled execution in Connecticut killings
by : Helen Steele
Date : Tue, 01 Feb 2005 00:00:00 GMT
The Department of Correction yesterday canceled scheduled execution of serial killer Michael Ross after his attorney raised question about his client’s competency. lt;br / gt;
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Ross would have been the first person in 45 years to be executed in New England. Officials will now have to seek a new death warrant. lt;br / gt;
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Ross, a 45-year-old Cornell University graduate, has confessed to eight murders in eastern Connecticut and New York in the early 1980s. lt;br / gt;
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His death by lethal injection was scheduled for last Wednesday and postponed three times as new court challenges emerged. It had been rescheduled for 9 pm yesterday before the state Supreme Court granted motions from Ross 's attorney and prosecutors for another stay of execution. lt;br / gt;
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Under state law, the execution cannot be scheduled for at least a month after a new warrant is issued. lt;br / gt;
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“I long for the day when we can say that we 've forgotten about Michael Ross, and I want everyone to remember that we should never forget his victims,” Chief State 's Attorney Christopher Morano said. “It is my hope that sometime in the not-so-distant future we will finally be able to give their families a sense of justice,” he said. lt;br / gt;
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Last year, Ross decided to forgo further appeals of his death sentence and hired attorney T.R. Paulding Jr. to expedite his execution, saying he wanted to end the pain for the families of his victims. lt;br / gt;
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Ross was about an hour from being put to death Saturday morning when Ross’s attorney Paulding announced he had requested a postponement of the execution. lt;br / gt;
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Paulding said yesterday that he had been persuaded of the need to explore a phenomenon known as ‘death row syndrome.’ “Michael Ross 's decision to forgo any additional appeals remains unchanged, but he has pledged his cooperation,” Paulding said. lt;br / gt;
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Last week, Judge Chatigny issued a stay of the execution and ordered a competency hearing. That stay was subsequently lifted by the US Supreme Court, and Ross 's execution appeared on track until Paulding halted the proceedings early Saturday. lt;br / gt;
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