Virginia joins the depths of hell usually occupied by the state of Texas today as it murders Teresa Lewis. The civilized world takes a dim view on executions of any kind, but especially the execution of the mentally retarded or disturbed. The EU even chimed in:
The European Union's ambassador to the U.S. wrote that the EU "considers that the execution of people with mental disorders of all types is contrary to minimum standards of human rights.
...
Lewis met Rodney Fuller and Matthew Shallenberger in a Wal-Mart store in Pittsylvania County and traded sex and money for weapons for the hired killing of her husband, Julian Clifton Lewis Jr. His son, Charles Lewis, entered the U.S. army reserve and had a $250,000 US life insurance policy, naming his father the beneficiary.
Both men would have to die for Lewis to collect.
On the night before Halloween in 2002, Shallenberger and Fuller came in and shot both men several times with shotguns. As Julian lay bleeding, Lewis grabbed his pants and wallet and gave the men the $300 inside.
Lewis's attorneys note that Shallenberger later claimed he was the mastermind and duped Lewis to get some of the insurance money. Shallenberger committed suicide in prison in 2006. He and Fuller were sentenced to life for the killings.
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