94 year old dies on death row of natural causes

BBC:

The oldest death row inmate in the US has died of natural causes aged 94.

The Arizona Department of Corrections said Viva Leroy Nash died late on Friday at the state prison in Florence.

Nash had a criminal record dating back to the 1930s, and was deaf, mostly blind, crippled, mentally ill and had dementia, his lawyer said.

He was sentenced to death in 1983, for shooting a salesman after escaping from jail. But he managed to stave off his execution with a series of appeals.

At the time of his death, state prosecutors were appealing to the Supreme Court against a federal appeals court ruling that Nash might not be mentally competent to assist in his defence.

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I don't think anyone on death row in Texas has survived that long. This guy was a career criminal who should have been executed decades ago. It tells you something about the success of the anti death penalty lobby, in some states, that he survived this long.