Rendell Calls For New, Faster Death Penalty Process In Pa.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- Governor Ed Rendell is now calling for the state legislature to either reform the death penalty or eliminate it.
On this final Friday of his tenure, Governor Ed Rendell signed six execution warrants — and went before reporters to lament the lack of a death penalty in Pennsylvania.
In one of his final acts as governor, Rendell has sent a letter to lawmakers urging them to examine ways to speed up the process of carrying out the death penalty without compromising defendants' rights, or to consider creating a "life sentence without parole or commutation by the governor" -– the latter of which would require an amendment to the state constitution.
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Rendell says he still believes capital punishment can be an effective deterrent.
"Executions fifteen, twenty, twenty-five years after the crime took place make absolutely no sense whatsoever," the governor said. "To the criminals on the street, the death penalty in Pennsylvania is simply not a reality."
Rendell says that over his eight years in office he's signed 119 warrants for a total of 118 death row inmates, and not one has come close to being executed.
Saying he supports the death penalty, Rendell concluded if the death penalty reforms were not carried out, the legislature should abolish it, substituting life without parole.
The Governor told reporters, as things now stand it is the families of victims who are being unfairly punished.
Gail Willard, mother of murder victim Aimee Willard, who was abducted along the Blue Route and beaten to death, tells Eyewitness News she has been to court more than 70 times as Aimee's killer, Arthur Bomar, pursues appeals.
Bomar, whose death warrant was signed in 2004 by Governor Rendell, is now in his 12th year on Death Row.
Mrs. Willard tells Eyewitness News that with each new court appearance she is forced to revisit the horror surrounding her daughter's death.
Reported by Tony Romeo, KYW Newsradio; Walt Hunter, CBS 3
