An Inclusive Litany
10/10/94
Sentenced to be hanged for murdering two bank tellers during a
robbery, Washington state death-row inmate Mitchell Rupe told the
court that the state shouldn't hang him because he is too fat. The
inmate claimed that because of his 409-pound weight, it was possible
that he would be decapitated in the process, thus violating the
constitutional ban against "cruel and unusual punishment." Although
Washington state law permits the alternative of lethal injection, Rupe
said he didn't like that form of execution because it is "morally
repugnant."