Georgia executes only woman on death row

The lone woman on Georgia's death row, Kelly Gissendaner, was executed late Tuesday night, the first women to be put to death in the state in 70 years.

Earlier Tuesday, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, which has the sole authority to grant clemency in Georgia, met to "receive and consider supplemental information" about the case, BuzzFeed reports, but the board decided against granting Gissendaner, 47, clemency. Pope Francis, who called for the abolition of the death penalty during a speech to Congress last week, also sent a letter, urging the state to halt her execution.

In 1998, Gissendaner was sentenced to death for plotting with her boyfriend, Gregory Owen, to kill her husband, Douglas Gissendaner. Owen accepted a plea deal and testified against Gissendaner; he was sentenced to life without possibility of parole. Court documents say that Gissendaner drove Owen to her home, gave him a nightstick and hunting knife, then left to go to a nightclub with friends. Owen ambushed Douglas Gissendaner, forcing him to drive to a remote spot where he beat and stabbed him. Owen took his ring and watch to make it look like a robbery, and Gissendaner later arrived to help Owen burn the body and car. It took authorities several weeks to discover Douglas Gissendaner's remains.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up