(Houston) Ivan Cantu, an American sentenced to death for a double murder in 2000 and whose fate attracted the attention of celebrities, is awaiting execution on Wednesday in Texas, in the southern United States.
Another inmate, Thomas Creech, 73, a serial murderer who spent more than 50 years on death row in Idaho (northwest) for killing a fellow inmate while serving a prison sentence to life in prison, is also scheduled to be executed Wednesday by lethal injection.
Only one execution took place this year in the United States, in Alabama (southeast), on January 25 by nitrogen inhalation, a world first which sparked a wave of global indignation. All of the 24 executions carried out in the United States in 2023 were carried out by lethal injection.
Ivan Cantu, 50, was sentenced to death in 2001 for the shooting deaths of his cousin, James Mosqueda, and his fiancée, Amy Kitchen. A double murder of which he always said he was innocent.
The main prosecution witness at his trial had been his then-fiancée, Amy Boettcher. She claimed that Ivan Cantu confessed to the crime to her and drove her to the scene before taking her to Arkansas (south).
Amy Boettcher’s brother, Jeff Boettcher, also incriminated her at trial, but he recanted his testimony following his sister’s death in 2021.
Ivan Cantu pointed the finger at a local drug dealer to whom his cousin owed a lot of money.
Following the discovery of new elements as well as the emergence of doubts about these prosecution testimonies, his execution, scheduled for April 2023, was suspended but this suspension was then lifted by the Texas Court of Appeal.
Actor Martin Sheen, an opponent of capital punishment, urged on Instagram to sign the online petition, which has already collected more than 150,000 signatures, to ask conservative Texas Governor Greg Abbott to stay the death penalty. execution.
Reality TV star Kim Kardashian also calls for mobilization on social media on Wednesday to ask the governor for “a 30-day reprieve” in order to re-examine Ivan Cantu’s case.
The Texas Conference of Bishops voted for a reprieve due to “grave uncertainties” surrounding the sentencing.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 American states. Six others (Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee) observe a moratorium on executions by decision of the governor.
According to a recent poll by the Gallup Institute, a majority of Americans (50% versus 47%) believe that capital punishment is not fairly applied in the United States, a first since the launch of this survey in 2000. The majority (53%) nevertheless remains in favor of the death penalty, according to the same source.