Arizona Carries Out First Of Two October Executions
On Wednesday, Arizona carried out the first of two executions scheduled for this month. Edward Schad, the oldest person on its death row was put to death this morning.
The 71-year-old Schad was given a lethal dose of pentobarbital at the state prison in Florence, and was pronounced dead at 10:12 a.m. Schad was twice convicted of killing a 74-year-old Bisbee man in 1978.
His death leaves 121 people on Arizona’s death row, including two women.
That number is expected to decrease by one in two weeks. That’s when 43-year-old Robert Jones is scheduled to be put to death.
Jones was convicted of killing six people during a pair of armed robberies in Tucson in 1996. The Texas resident had been out of prison just five months when he and his accomplice, Scott Nordstrom, robbed a smoke shop and shot five people, two of whom died.
Two weeks later they robbed a Firefighters Union Hall, killing four more people. Nordstrom is also on Arizona’s death row.
