At 77, after 40 years in prison: Vietnam War veteran who murdered police officer executed in US

William Reeves, a 77-year-old Vietnam War veteran, was executed by lethal injection in Florida after 40 years in prison for the murder of a police officer. His appeals were denied, and a clemency request from over 100 military veterans failed.

William Reeves, a 77-year-old Vietnam War veteran, was executed by lethal injection in Florida after serving 40 years in prison for the murder of a police officer. Reeves was convicted in 1987 for the murder of Officer Richard Ratzlaff, who came to assist him outside a convenience store in September 1986. His conviction was overturned due to a conflict of interest by the prosecutor, but in a retrial in 1992 he was again convicted and sentenced to death. His attorneys argued that he suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder following his service in Vietnam, and that the jury was not exposed to the full extent of his mental state. Over 100 military veterans asked Governor Ron DeSantis to pardon him, but their request was denied. The Supreme Court rejected his final appeal hours before the execution. The sheriff who witnessed the execution said that Reeves' death was not justice. Florida leads the US this year in the number of executions, with 18 out of 32.