Missouri carried out its second execution of the year on Tuesday, after Gov. Mike Parson dismissed convict David Hosier’s clemency petition.Hosier was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. local time at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic, and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri, according to a correctional official. Hosier, 69, has claimed innocence in the double murder for which he was sentenced to death.
He filed a clemency petition following several previous appeals, including one that the Missouri Supreme Court denied five years ago when it unanimously supported the state’s decision to execute him.
However, the governor ultimately has the option to commute Hosier’s sentence, postpone his execution, or not, and some MPs have recent days have urged Parson to save his life.
Hosier was sentenced to death in Missouri in 2013 after being found guilty of capital murder in the 2009 deaths of Angela and Rodney Gilpin at their Jefferson City home.
The governor, who has presided over ten executions since taking office, claimed Hosier killed the couple “in a jealous rage,” mirroring the prosecution’s argument in his criminal trial.
Hosier was convicted of fatally shooting the Gilpins during an armed burglary after previously dating Angela Gilpin. She and her husband were slain about a month after Angela Gilpin quit her affair with Hosier, according to court records.
“David Hosier took Ms. Angela Gilpin’s life because he couldn’t accept the end of their romantic relationship. “He shows no remorse for his senseless violence,” Parson said in a statement Monday, announcing that Hosier’s clemency appeal had been refused.
“For these horrible acts, Hosier received the maximum legal sentence. I can’t imagine how much agony Angela and Rodney’s loved ones are going through, but I hope that carrying out Hosier’s sentence in accordance with the Court’s judgment provides them some closure.”
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