Tuesday, April 24, 2007
LUCASVILLE, Ohio —
A man who decided in his final days to challenge Ohio's lethal injection method was executed Tuesday for his ex-wife's shooting death 13 years ago.James Filiaggi, 41, had stopped appealing his sentence in 2006 but reconsidered last week, asking the Ohio Supreme Court, a federal judge and federal appeal court to grant an emergency delay. All denied the request Monday.
The U.S. Supreme Court turned him down Tuesday morning.
Filiaggi had sought to join several other Ohio inmates in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of lethal injection. The inmates contend lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, and Filiaggi argued in court papers that it amounts to torture.
In a final statement before his death, he took a shot at the death penalty, saying many innocent inmates are on death row. "For me _ it's fine," he said.
Legal challenges to the use of lethal injection have been filed in several states with mixed results. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court delayed the execution of another inmate in Ohio after he joined the same lawsuit.
Filiaggi's wife, Lisa Huff Filiaggi, had divorced him and won custody of their two daughters. On Jan. 24, 1994, James Filiaggi, who had a history of domestic violence, chased his ex-wife through her Lorain neighborhood, followed her into a neighbor's house and shot her in the head.
"He was an animal out to get his prey," said the victim's mother, Jane Harris, after watching James Filiaggi die. "I wish Lisa would have gone in such a peaceful manner."
Attorneys for Filiaggi entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, arguing that a brain disorder made him unable to control anger-filled outbursts. Prosecutors said he knew right from wrong.
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