Virginia Woman One Step Closer to Execution

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has denied a clemency petition from Teresa Lewis, clearing the way for her execution by lethal injection on Sept. 23. Lewis, who participated in a murder-for-hire plot that claimed the lives of her husband and stepson in 2003, would be the first woman executed in Virginia in nearly 100 years. In recent weeks, more than 5,500 people have signed a petition asking the governor to spare her life. While no one disputes her guilt, Lewis’s lawyers have argued that a sentence is overly harsh in light of the condemned’s low IQ, a personality disorder that allegedly impaired her judgment and the fact that the two triggermen received life sentences. In the end, the campaign to commute the sentence was not enough to sway the governor.