ARIZONA. COMER EXECUTED BY LETHAL INJECTION
May 22, 2007: Arizona executed a 50-year-old man by lethal injection for the murder of a camper in 1987, state prison officials said.
Robert Charles Comer, convicted of the murder of Larry Pritchard, was put to death at 10 a.m. at the Arizona State Prison complex in Florence, southeast of Phoenix.
When asked if he had any last words, witnesses reported that Comer smiled and said, "Yes, Go Raiders!" in what appeared to be a reference to the Oakland, California, professional football team.
Comer had withdrawn his federal appeals and refused to attend a clemency hearing in recent weeks.
For his last meal Comer requested fried okra, four buns and two slices of banana bread with butter and salt.
Comer was on death row for more than 19 years for shooting Pritchard in the head on February 3, 1987, at a campground near Apache Lake, east of Phoenix.
He also attacked a young couple at a neighboring campsite, hog-tying the man to a car fender and repeatedly raping the woman during a drive through a wilderness area.
Comer was the 23rd person to be executed in the state since Arizona resumed capital punishment in 1992. There are 112 inmates on the state's death row. (Sources: Reuters, 22/05/2007)
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