Execution
Although convicted for all four murders, Hopkinson steadfastly maintained his innocence up until his execution. Wyoming Governor Mike Sullivan refused to commute or pardon Hopkinson, despite petitions to do so by death penalty opponents, including Amnesty International.
Hopkinson was executed by lethal injection at the Wyoming State Penitentiary. His last meal was pizza, shared with his mother and other family. Hopkinson's last statement, still maintaining his non-involvement in the crime, was "They have killed an innocent man." He chose not to allow witnesses at his execution. Witnesses were brought in afterwards to view his remains and ascertain that the sentence had been carried out. Hopkinson was pronounced dead at 12:57 a.m. on the morning of January 22, 1992. His execution was the 159th carried out in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Read more about this topic: Mark Hopkinson
Famous quotes containing the word execution:
“Some hours seem not to be occasion for any deed, but for resolves to draw breath in. We do not directly go about the execution of the purpose that thrills us, but shut our doors behind us and ramble with prepared mind, as if the half were already done. Our resolution is taking root or hold on the earth then, as seeds first send a shoot downward which is fed by their own albumen, ere they send one upward to the light.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The application requisite to the duties of the office I hold [governor of Virginia] is so excessive, and the execution of them after all so imperfect, that I have determined to retire from it at the close of the present campaign.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“If I were asked to chose between execution and life in prison I would, of course, chose the latter. It’s better to live somehow than not at all.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)