Keith Wells

Keith Eugene Wells (May 11, 1962 – January 6, 1994) was convicted of the murders of John Justad and Brandis Rains. He was executed in 1994 at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution by the State of Idaho by lethal injection, only one year and nine months after having been sentenced to death. He became the first, and so far the only, person to be executed in Idaho since 1970 when the death penalty was reinstated and only the tenth since Idaho gained statehood. [cite news
title = Appeal to stop Idaho inmate's execution fails
work = Salt Lake Tribune
pages = A5
publisher =
date = 1994-01-06 ] He chose not to appeal the death sentence, although it was appealed on his behalf. The United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed against his wishes. In 2006, there were nineteen people on Idaho's death row. [cite news
last = Brodwater
first = Taryn
title = Duncan lawyer investigating state's execution protocol
work = Spokesman Review
date = 2006-08-11
url = http://www.spokesmanreview.com/sections/duncan/?ID=144287
accessdate = 2007-08-02 ]

He was on parole for armed robbery when he murdered two people at Boise's Rose Pub on December 20, 1990. He was convicted of killing John Justad, 23, and Brandi Rains, 20, with a baseball bat. He stated "it was time for them to die". [cite news
title = First Idaho Execution in 36 Years: A Killer Who Used a Baseball Bat
work = The New York Times
pages = A20
date = 1994-01-07
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990DE6D71F3EF934A35752C0A962958260
accessdate = 2007-11-18 ]

See also

* Capital punishment in Idaho
* Capital punishment in the United States

Notes

Sources

* [http://corrections.state.id.us/facts/death_row.htm Death Sentences] . "Idaho Department of Correction". Retrieved on 2007-11-05.
* [http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/usexecute.htm U.S. Executions Since 1976] . "The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney". Retrieved on 2007-11-05.