Tennessee death row inmate Oscar Smiths final words revealed as hes executed for murder of wife, her sons

Tennessee inmate Oscar Smith was executed by lethal injection on Thursday morning for the 1989 murders of his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her teenage sons, Jason and Chad Burnett.Smith was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m.after a lethal injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital.The 75-year-old had maintained his innocence.

In a lengthy final statement, he railed against the justice system, saying it “doesn’t work,” echoing sentiments expressed in a recent interview with The Associated Press.Speaking of Tennessee Gov.Bill Lee, Smith said, “He has the last word and is the last person who can give justice where justice is needed.” There are more men waiting to die at the prison, he said.

“I’m not the first, and I’m not going to be the last.”Smith was strapped to a gurney and had an IV in his right arm.It was attached to a long tube that ran into a different room where the lethal injection was administered.Witnesses saw no obvious sign that the injection had begun after his final statement, but Smith’s speech became labored as he spoke with his spiritual adviser.Witnesses heard him say, “I didn’t kill her.” He appeared calm and did not appear to struggle as visible signs of respiration stopped.Thursday marked the first time Tennessee officials allowed a spiritual adviser into the execution chamber with the inmate.She prayed over Smith and comforted him, at one point singing, “I’ll Fly Away.”Smith was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting Judith Smith, 13-year-old Jason Burnett and 16-year-old Chad Burnett at their Nashville, Tennessee, home on Oct.

1, 1989.He was sentenced to death by a Davidson County jury in July 1990 for the murders.In 2022, a Davidson County Criminal Court judge denied requests to reopen his case despite some new evidence that the DNA of an unknown person was on one of the murder weapons.The judge wrote that the evidence of Smith’s guilt was overwhelming and the DNA evidence did not tip the scales ...