David Mitchell (murderer)

David Mitchell (1972 – 6 January 2000) was a murderer who killed two German tourists in the Bahamas and was executed as a result. His is the most recent execution to be performed by the Bahamas.

Mitchell was convicted of stabbing two tourists from Germany to death and received the mandatory sentence of death by hanging. He was originally scheduled to be executed on 10 August 1999, but his execution was delayed to allow the Bahamian appeal courts to hear his appeal on the constitutionality of the death penalty. His appeal was rejected by the Bahamian courts and by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, which acts as the final court of appeal for the Bahamas. Mitchell was executed in the Fox Hill Prison in Nassau on the morning of 6 January 2000.

Mitchell's execution was controversial because it was carried out while he had an appeal pending before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Amnesty International alleged that this amounted to a violation of the Bahamas' treaty obligations as a member of the Organization of American States. The victims' son had also requested that the death sentence be commuted. John Higgs was scheduled to be executed the same day as MItchell for an unrelated murder, but he committed suicide the day before.

References

• "Bahamas convict executed", BBC News, 2000-01-06, accessed 2008-08-08
• Amnesty International, "Bahamas: State-sanctioned killing on Epiphany", press release, 2000-01-05, accessed 2008-08-08

External links

• "Hands Off Cain: The Bahamas", handsoffcain.info, accessed 2008-08-08

Persondata
Name	Mitchell, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1972
Place of birth
Date of death	2000-01-06
Place of death