Idaho execution on hold, state can’t get chemicals to carry it out
BOISE, Idaho – Idaho’s Department of Corrections has suspended plans to execute the first inmate in the state since 2012.
Idaho DOC says it’s unlikely the department will be able to secure the chemicals needed to carry out the lethal injection.
The state served Gerald Pizzuto with his death warrant in mid-November.
He was scheduled to die on December 15th.
In a memo to the Idaho Board of Correction Wednesday, the IDOC director said the warrant should be allowed to expire and the execution suspended.
“While our efforts to secure chemicals remain ongoing, I have no reason to believe our status will change prior to the scheduled execution on December 15, 2022,” Director Tewalt wrote in the memo. “In my professional judgement, I believe it is in the best interest of justice to allow the death warrant to expire and stand down our execution preparation.”
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Pizzuto was sentenced to death in 1986 for beating two people to death in Idaho County.
He’s under hospice care for cancer treatment.
Pizzuto is one of eight people currently on Idaho’s death row.
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