LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Bruce Ward, a convicted assassin who used to be the longest-serving inmate on Arkansas’ loss of life row, has died, the state Division of Corrections stated. Ward used to be 68.
The state Division of Corrections stated Ward used to be pronounced useless Tuesday from herbal reasons. He were hung on loss of life row on the Varner SuperMax unit in Gould, situated 67 miles (108 kilometers) south of Little Rock.
Ward used to be on loss of life row for 35 years after being convicted for the 1989 killing of Rebecca Doss, who used to be discovered strangled within the males’s room of the Little Rock comfort retailer the place she labored. Ward’s loss of life leaves 24 inmates on loss of life row within the state.
Ward used to be amongst 8 inmates the state had deliberate to execute over a two-week duration in 2017 sooner than its provide of a deadly injection medication expired. Ward’s executions and 3 others have been halted via court docket choices, although the state accomplished 4 different inmates.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders closing month signed a brand new legislation permitting the state to make use of nitrogen fuel for executions. The measure makes Arkansas the 5th state to legalize that means and supporters stated it could permit the state to renew executions.
The longest serving inmate now on Arkansas’ loss of life now’s Don Davis, who used to be sentenced in 1992 for killing a northwest Arkansas lady after breaking into her house.
