A former soldier who was convicted of murdering a nurse over a belief that she had placed a magic spell on him was executed on Tuesday at the age of 50.
The Justice Department said that William Emmett LeCroy Jr. was executed by lethal injection at the U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute in Indiana. He was convicted of raping and killing 30-year-old Joann Lee Tiesler before stealing her vehicle in 2004.
“Today, William Emmett LeCroy Jr., 50, was executed at U.S. Penitentiary Terre Haute in accordance with the capital sentence recommended by a federal jury and imposed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in 2004,” said agency spokeswoman Kerri Kupec.
“Nearly 19 years after brutally ending the life of Joann Lee Tiesler, William Emmett LeCroy finally has faced the justice he deserved. Family members and loved ones of Tiesler, including her father and her fiancé, witnessed the execution,” added Kupec.
The Associated Press reported that LeCroy did not give a statement before his death and was accompanied only by a spiritual adviser.
Tiesler’s father claimed that LeCroy had never shown remorse for his actions.
“Today justice was finally served. William LeCroy died a peaceful death in stark contrast to the horror he imposed on my daughter Joann,” Tom Tiesler said in a statement.
“I am unaware that he ever showed any remorse for his evil actions, his life of crime or for the horrific burden he caused Joann’s loved ones,” he continued.
The federal government is reportedly set to execute another death row inmate, Christopher Vialva, on Thursday.