By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – Thursday's scheduled execution of serial killer Daniel Lee Siebert will go forward. Governor Bob Riley said in a statement today that changes to Alabama's lethal injection procedures have been completed and he will not stop the execution.
Alabama corrections officials have never disclosed how they carry out the state's ultimate punishment, but Riley said new safeguards will make sure inmates are unconscious when they receive the drugs that stop their lungs and heart.
Riley also rejected calls to spare Siebert because he has terminal cancer and would only live a few months if not executed. The governor said Siebert's crimes were - ''monstrous, brutal and ghastly.''
The 53-year-old Siebert was sentenced to die for the February 19th, 1986 strangulation deaths of 24-year-old Sherri Weathers and her two sons, 5-year-old Chad and 4-year-old Joey. The bodies were found in the victim's Talladega apartment several days later.
Attorneys for Siebert have asked federal and state courts to block his execution.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)