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SIOUX FALLS, SD (AP) – A South Dakota detainee was executed Monday night for killing a correctional officer during a failed escape seven years ago, at the age of 63, thus marking the first execution of the state since 2012.
Rodney Berget, 56, received a fatal injection of an undisclosed drug for the murder of Ronald "RJ" in 2011, who was hit with pipe shots and covered with plastic wrap at the penitentiary from the state of South Dakota, Sioux Falls. Berget's execution is the fourth since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1979.
Originally, it was to be done at 13:30. CDT, but was delayed for hours while the US Supreme Court weighed a last-minute legal offer to block it. Berget joked in his last words about waiting, saying, "Sorry for the delay, I found myself stuck in traffic."
He had a soft voice and seemed moved. He also thanked the people for their support and named two.
"I love you and I find you out," he said as he seemed to be giving a sign of peace with his left hand.
After the start of the drug administration at 19:25, Berget moaned and pushed back the chest. He walked away and snored briefly before closing his eyes. He was pronounced dead at 19:37. CDT.
Johnson's widow, Lynette Johnson, said her husband had suffered "cruel and unusual punishments," but that Berget's execution was "peaceful" and "barren."
"What is anchored in my mind is the crime scene. Ron lay down in a pool of blood. Her blood was everywhere on this crime scene, "she said. "It's a cruel and unusual punishment."
She took the size of her husband's wedding ring and now wears it next to hers. she keeps her watch – her hands frozen at the time of the attack – in a transparent case next to photos above her home.
Berget was serving a life sentence for attempted murder and kidnapping when he and another detainee, Eric Robert, attacked Johnson on April 12, 2011, in a part of the penitentiary known as Pheasantland Industries, where inmates were working on woven fabrics. Furniture, signs, projects. After Johnson was beaten, Robert donned Johnson's pants, hat and jacket and pushed a cart loaded with two cartons, one with Berget inside, to the exits. They managed to pass a door but were stopped by another guard before they could escape through a second door. Berget admitted his role in the assassination.
Robert was executed on October 15, 2012. The state also put an inmate to death on October 30, 2012, but it was the last before Berget arrived.
Lynette Johnson said the executions had held Robert and Berget accountable, and she asked that people do not feel bad for men. She spoke at a guarding academy named after her husband and dedicated a year after his death.
Johnson was 63 on the day of his assassination and was about to complete a career as a guardian for nearly 24 years.
Berget's mental status and his eligibility for the death penalty played a role in judicial delays. In 2016, Berget appealed his death sentence, but later asked to withdraw his appeal against the opinion of his lawyer. Berget wrote to a judge, saying that he thought the death penalty would be canceled and that he could not imagine spending "another 30 years in a cage serving a life sentence".
The Corrections Department planned to use only one drug to execute Berget. The policy calls for either sodium thiopental or pentobarbital. Pentobarbital has been used in the last two runs.
South Dakota has not had a problem getting the drugs it needs, just like other states, perhaps because the state is hiding some of the details in the country. biggest secret. In 2013, legislators approved hiding the identity of its suppliers.
Berget was the second member of his family to be executed. His older brother, Roger, was executed in Oklahoma in 2000 for killing a man and stealing his car.
Opponents of the death penalty gathered Monday for a vigil in front of South Dakota prison, some gathered in a circle and sang. Elaine Engelgau, a resident of Sioux Falls, aged 62, seated behind a sign with a cross on which it is written: "JESUS: HE WITHOUT SIN, COULEE THE FIRST STONE", told Associated Press that she pray that the execution will be interrupted and for the soul of Berget.
"I do not think it's fair to kill a person and I think the citizens of the state of South Dakota are wrong to kill anyone," said Engelgau, a court reporter. retired.
Scott Johnson told Chief Argus that he did not know R.J. Johnson, but was standing across the street to support the death penalty. Scott Johnson said that a prisoner of the penitentiary had killed his sister and had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
"I know that there are two sides to everything, but I do not understand their side at all," he said.
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