Inmate says just one final word before he’s executed with lethal injection

Freddie Owens was put to death just days after a key witness came forward to confess he had lied about his involvement in a 1997 murder.

Convicted killer Freddie Owens was put to death in America on Friday — the first execution carried out in the state of South Carolina in 13 years after prison officials struggled to find the necessary drugs for lethal injections.

Owens killed a Greenville convenience store clerk during a botched robbery in 1997. While on trial, Owens killed an inmate at a county jail, which he confessed to, leading a jury to sentence him to death.

In the death chamber, the 46-year-old said only “bye” to his lawyer as he was strapped into a gurney with his arms stretched out to his sides, according to The Associated Press.

He remained conscious for roughly a minute, then his eyes closed and he took several deep breaths. His breaths shortened and his face twitched for about five minutes before all movements stopped.

A medical professional came in and declared him dead a little over 10 minutes later at 6.55pm.

Last-ditch appeal after witness confession

Owens’ appeals were repeatedly denied, including a last-minute effort to keep him alive that was filed in federal court Friday morning. Owens also petitioned for a stay of execution from the US Supreme Court.

South Carolina’s governor and corrections director swiftly filed a reply, stating the high court should reject Owens’ petition, saying there is nothing exceptional about his case.

Owens was put to death just days after a key witness confessed that he lied on the stand about Owens being with him at the South Carolina convenience store in 1997 when clerk Irene Graves was gunned down in a botched robbery.

Steven Golden, Owens’ one-time pal, claimed he had a secret deal with prosecutors and lied about his then-pal’s guilt to help save himself from the death chamber.

“I’m coming forward now because I know Freddie’s execution date is September 20 and I don’t want Freddie to be executed for something he didn’t do,” he wrote in a court filing “This has weighed heavily on my mind and I want to have a clear conscience.”

Death row inmate Freddie Owens. Picture: South Carolina Department of Corrections

But it wasn’t enough to keep Owens alive.

His last chance to avoid death was for Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to commute his sentence to life in prison. McMaster denied Owens’ request as well, stating that he had “carefully reviewed and thoughtfully considered” Owens’ application for clemency.

Owens forced to choose how he died

Owens was the first South Carolina inmate put to death in over a decade. Five other inmates are out of appeals and the South Carolina Supreme Court has cleared the way to hold an execution every five weeks.

When lack of available drugs for lethal injections forced an unintended pause in executions, the state had tried to add firing squads as a means of putting down inmates on death row.

But the state had to pass a shield law in May keeping the drug supplier and much of the protocol for executions secret to be able to start executions again.

State officials said the new lethal injection method follows the process the federal government uses to kill inmates.

He was forced to choose how he died, per South Carolina law. He could have alternatively chosen to die by firing squad or an electric chair built in 1912.

What we know about the two murders

Owens was convicted of killing Irene Graves in 1999. Prosecutors said he fired a shot into the head of the single mother of three when she couldn’t open the store’s safe.

After his conviction, but before he was sentenced in Graves’ killing, Owens fatally attacked a fellow jail inmate, Christopher Lee.

Owens confessed in detail how he stabbed Lee, burned his eyes, choked and stomped him.

He told authorities he did it “because I was wrongly convicted of murder”, according to the written account of an investigator.

People protest the execution of Freddie Owens (inset) before his death on September 20. (Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

That detailed confession was read to each jury and judge who went on to sentence Owens to death. He had two different death sentences overturned on appeal only to end up back on death row.

Owens was charged with murder in Lee’s death but was never tried. Prosecutors dropped the charges with the right to restore them in 2019 around the time Owens ran out of regular appeals.

In his final appeal, Owens’ lawyers argued prosecutors never presented scientific evidence that Owens pulled the trigger on Graves. The chief evidence, they said, was based on Golden’s testimony.

“South Carolina is on the verge of executing a man for a crime he did not commit. We will continue to advocate for Mr. Owens,” lawyer Gerald “Bo” King said in a statement.

Owens’ lawyers also said he was just 19 when the killing happened and that he had suffered brain damage from physical and sexual violence while in a juvenile prison.

This article was originally published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission