Teresa Lewis Speaks From Death Row After Final Appeal Blocked by U.S. Supreme Court

RICHMOND, Va. (CBS/WTVR) Theresa Lewis' final appeal, and last chance to be spared the death penalty, was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, but to hear her talk there is still hope for salvation, even in death.

Lewis says she has found comfort and strength in her faith and in singing the gospel hymns she loves so much, according to CBS affiliate WTVR, who spoke to Lewis by phone Tuesday.

"[I have] hope that something is going to turn around [but] if I have to go home with Jesus...I know that's going to be the best thing," Lewis told the station.

Lewis pleaded guilty in May 2003 to two counts of capital murder for hire in the 2002 slayings of her husband Julian Lewis and her stepson, Charles Lewis. The triggermen, Matthew Shallenberger and Rodney Fuller, were sentenced to life terms. Shallenberger, who Lewis' attorney, James E. Rocap III, names as the mastermind, committed suicide in prison in 2006.

Two of the three women on the court, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, voted to stop the execution. The court did not otherwise comment on its order, issued Tuesday. The decision followed an earlier decision by Virginia governor Bob McDonnell's refusal to reconsider a clemency request.

Rocap appealed to McDonnell, on Monday, to reconsider his decision to deny clemency to Lewis, claiming new evidence should spare Lewis the death penalty. He claims that one of the gunmen later claimed he manipulated Lewis, who is borderline mentally retarded, "to dupe her into believing he loved her so that he could achieve his own selfish goals."

Meanwhile, Lewis continues to sing until she can sing no more and asks that she be forgiven by the woman who suffers most for her crimes - Kathy Clifton, the daughter and sister of her victims.

"Knowing that I was part of it of taking her family away and my participation in it, I don't think there's enough words to even begin to tell her how sorry I am," Lewis told WTVR.

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
September 20, 2010 - Teresa Lewis Days from Execution; First Woman Facing that Fate in Va. in Nearly a Century
August 2, 2010 - Teresa Lewis Scheduled to be First U.S. Woman Executed Since 2005
March 23, 2010 - Teresa Lewis Pleads for Her Life: Only Female on Va. Death Row Says She Wasn't Mastermind