Ignoring pleas from Britain, Georgia executed a dual British-American citizen Tuesday night for raping and murdering a woman 17 years ago.
Before receiving a chemical injection, Tracy Lee Housel, 43, apologized and told his friends and family, “Take care of yourselves. May God be with you all.”
Housel, born in the British territory of Bermuda, admitted picking up Jean Drew, 46, at a suburban Atlanta truck stop in 1985, then raping her and bashing her head.
During his sentencing hearing, Housel also admitted beating a Texas truck driver to death with a hammer and stabbing an Iowa man.
The execution drew intense attention from the news media in Britain, which abandoned capital punishment 40 years ago.
Prime Minister Tony Blair had asked Georgia’s parole board to commute Housel’s sentence to life in prison. The Law Society, representing lawyers in England and Wales, also wrote to the parole board, and members of the British Parliament signed a motion calling for Housel’s sentence to be commuted.
The Georgia parole board turned down Housel’s plea for mercy Monday.
