DEATH PENALTY

Virginia Executes Inmate for Killing Two During 2006 Escape

Despite concerns over his mental health.

Virginia authorities on Thursday night executed a 35-year-old man who killed two people after escaping from custody in 2006, despite protests from mental-health advocates who said the man was severely ill. William Morva was pronounced dead at 9:15 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection. The execution came hours after Gov. Terry McAuliffe denied a clemency petition and pushed back against those who argued Morva suffered from a personality disorder that made him incapable of distinguishing between delusions and reality. Morva was initially jailed on attempted robbery charges in 2005 but wound up on death row after killing a hospital security guard and sheriff’s deputy after escaping from police custody. Morva’s lawyers said he was suffering from delusions at the time. The daughter of one of his victims and two United Nations human-rights experts were among those campaigning for clemency in his case.