28 May 2010 :

Thomas Warren Whisenhant was executed. Whisenhant, 63, white, died 3 days short of his 32nd anniversary on death row at Holman prison, where he was the longest-serving inmate on death row. Whisenhant was convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering Cheryl Lynn Payton, 24, on Oct. 16, 1976. After his arrest, he confessed to killing 2 other women -- Venora Hyatt and Patricia Hit -- and attacking 3 others, including his own wife. Whisenhant becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Alabama and the 45th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1983. Whisenhant becomes the 24th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA, and the 1212th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.