Alabama has executed a man with nitrogen gas, putting him to death with a first-of-its-kind method that once again put the U.S. at the forefront of the debate over capital punishment.
In a pair of back-to-back hearings Wednesday, Nebraska lawmakers considered one proposal that would allow the state to suffocate death row inmates by forcing them to breathe pure nitrogen gas — and another that calls for lawmakers to witness state executions.
The inmates on Nebraska’s death row and their crimes
Jorge Galindo
JORGE GALINDO
Crime: The 2002 Norfolk bank robbery; he shot and killed Lola Elwood, a bank employee.
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Erick F. Vela
ERICK F. VELA
Crime: 2002 Norfolk bank robbery; he shot and killed Lisa Bryant, a bank employee.
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Jeffrey Hessler
JEFFREY HESSLER
Crime: kidnapping, raping and murdering Heather Guerrero, a 15-year-old Gering newspaper carrier, in 2003.
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John L. Lotter
JOHN L. LOTTER
Crime: 1993 murders of Teena Brandon, 21, Lisa Lambert, 24, and Phillip DeVine, 22, in a farmhouse near Humboldt; the story of the transgender Brandon was fictionalized in the film “Boys Don’t Cry.”
KENT SIEVERS, THE WORLD-HERALD
Roy L. Ellis
ROY L. ELLIS
Crime: the 2005 abduction and bludgeoning death of 12-year-old Amber Harris of Omaha.
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Marco E. Torres Jr.
MARCO E. TORRES JR.
Crime: the 2007 execution-style shooting deaths of two Grand Island men, Timothy Donohue and Edward Hall.
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Anthony Garcia
ANTHONY GARCIA
Crime: 2008 murders of 11-year-old Thomas Hunter and 57-year-old Shirlee Sherman, and 2013 murders of 65-year-old Dr. Roger Brumback and 65-year-old Mary Brumback.
MATT MILLER, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Nikko Jenkins
NIKKO JENKINS
Crime: four murders during a 2013 killing spree in Omaha.
KENT SIEVERS, THE WORLD-HERALD
Patrick Schroeder
Patrick Schroeder
Crime: the 2017 strangling death of his cellmate, Terry Berry, a 22-year-old inmate who was about to be released from the Tecumseh State Prison.
KENT SIEVERS, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD
Aubrey Trail
Aubrey Trail
Crime: the 2017 abduction and slaying of Lincoln store clerk Sydney Loofe.
