TEXAS (USA): SUZANNE BASSO EXECUTED
February 5, 2014: Suzanne Basso, 59, White, was executed in Texas. Basso is the 14th woman executed in the U.S. since the Supreme Court in 1976 allowed capital punishment to resume.
Basso was sentenced to die for the 1998 slaying of 59-year-old Louis "Buddy" Musso. Prosecutors said Basso had made herself the beneficiary of Musso's insurance policies and took over his Social Security benefits. Basso became a suspect after reporting Musso missing following the discovery of his body. 5 others also were convicted, including Basso's son, but prosecutors only sought the death penalty for Basso.
Women account for about 10% of murder arrests but only represent 2.1% of death sentences imposed at trial and less than 1% of completed executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. About 60 women are on death row in the U.S., making up about 2 % of the 3,100 condemned inmates.
Texas, the nation's busiest death-penalty state, now has executed 5 women and 505 men.
Basso becomes the 2nd inmate to be put to death this year in Texas, the 510th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982, the 7th inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1366th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (Sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin, 05/02/2014)
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