A former white supremacist, sentenced to death for a triple murder, was executed Tuesday during the first federal execution in 17 years in the United States, announced the United States Department of Justice. Daniel Lee died at 8:07 a.m. (12:07 a.m. GMT) of a lethal injection at Terre Haute prison in Indiana, the ministry said in a statement.
"You kill an innocent man," said the man before he died, according to an Indianapolis Star reporter who attended the execution. He was convicted in 1999 of the murder of a couple and their 8-year-old daughter in Arkansas during a robbery intended to finance a supremacist group.
Two other federal executions scheduled for this week
Daniel Lee, 47, was due to be executed on Monday, but last-minute legal proceedings delayed the proceedings. In the night, the Supreme Court gave the green light to the federal authorities for this execution, the first since 2003, under the impulse of the government of Donald Trump who claims an reinforced use of this sanction.
Two other federal executions are scheduled this week, and a fourth at the end of August.