Marco Allen Chapman Executed

Kentucky's Catholic bishops pleaded with Gov. Steve Beshear to grant clemency in Chapman's pending execution. The bishops cited his mental instability resulting from an abusive childhood and a long history of drug and alcohol abuse.

Chapman pleaded guilty to the 2002 murders of two children, and to the attempted murder of another child and their mother. in their northern Kentucky home. At his request, Chapman was sentenced to death for the murders and received life sentences for the attempted murders and the rape of the children's mother. Read more here.

Marco Chapman, age 37, asked for the death penalty multiple times but his public defender asked for delays. Although Chapman has already been found competent on three prior occassions, the Department of Public Advocacy asked for another competency hearing .

"I believe justice is being served by the Kentucky Supreme Court's decision to uphold the death sentence against Marco Chapman for the brutal crimes against the Marksberry family," said Attorney General Jack Conway.

This case is being watched because it’s the first time anyone has pleaded guilty to the death penalty in Kentucky.

During his 2004 sentencing, Chapman asked for the death penalty because he said that he was haunted by his actions. He murdered two girls, ages 7 and 6, and attempted to murder another child and their mother, after raping her.

Chapman knows what he deserves. This is a case of a man taking his just desert.

Also from here:

"The only thing I could says is I'm sorry. Even though they shouldn't accept it, my heartfelt apologies for their loss and what I've done," Chapman told The Associated Press in May. "I'm ready. I'm ready and I'm sorry. There's nothing else I can say."

Chapman's aunt, Donna Rumburg of Mount Airy, Md., said his family is a little less certain about his decision. Rumburg, who raised Chapman for a short time, said she hasn't forgiven Chapman for what he did because it's not her place.

"But I don't say I don't love him," Rumburg said.

Chapman, 37, pleaded guilty in December 2004 to killing 7-year-old Chelbi Sharon and 6-year-old Cody Sharon in their northern Kentucky home. He also admitted stabbing 10-year-old Courtney Sharon, who survived, then raping and trying to kill their mother, Carolyn Marksberry, during the 2002 assault.

Postscript
(AP) - A Kentucky inmate who resisted all appeals to stop his execution was put to death Friday for murdering two young children.

In the state's first execution in nine years, Marco Allen Chapman was given a lethal injection at the Kentucky State Penitentiary. He was pronounced dead at 7:34 p.m. CST.

This case reminds me of C. S. Lewis' essay on the Humanitarian Theory of Punishment, which you can read here.