Rell Reaffirms

Support Of Death Penalty

HARTFORD (AP) — A day after New Jersey repealed its death penalty, Governor M. Jodi Rell says she does not expect Connecticut to follow suit anytime soon.

In fact, Rell has reaffirmed her support of the death penalty in certain capital cases. The governor told WTNH-TV on Tuesday she believes there are some cases that are so heinous and horrific that the death penalty would be justified.

Rell says the triple homicide this summer during a home invasion in Cheshire could be a factor in why she thinks that many people won’t be calling for a repeal of the death penalty this upcoming year. In that case, a woman and her two daughters were killed and the suspects, a pair of paroled burglars, are facing numerous capital offenses. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty.

There are currently nine men on Connecticut’s death row. Serial killer Michael Ross was executed by lethal injection in 2005, the first execution in New England in 45 years.