R.I.P. William Glenn Boyd

Roman Colosseum lit to protest an execution

On March 31, 2011, Alabama executed William Glenn Boyd for the 1986 murders of Fred and Evelyn Blackmon.  Boyd contended that it was his accomplice, Robert Milstead, who committed the murders.  Milstead avoided the death penalty by testifying against Boyd.  The jury recommended a sentence of life without possibility of parole, but the trial judge overrode the jury's verdict and sentenced Boyd to death.  Boyd's lawyers claimed the judge violated state and federal law by failing to give adequate consideration to the jury's recommendation or to Boyd's abusive upbringing. 

This is the eleventh execution in the United States in 2011, the second in Alabama.