A Florida will be executed by lethal injection for his involvement in the death of highway trooper.
Paul Augustus Howell, 48, was convicted for the death of Florida Patrol Trooper Jimmy Fulford, which occurred on February 1, 1992.
According to The New York Daily News, Howell, who was known as a drug dealer, planted a pipe bomb in another man’s trunk who was stopped by Fulford for speeding. When Fulford searched the car, he found a wrapped package, which contained the bomb, and opened it.
According to prosecutors, Howell meant to kill a woman with the bomb who could have tied him to her brother’s drug related death.
Howell was meant to die last year, but he received a reprieve.
Keith Ann Fulford, the widow of the trooper, asked a judge to condemn Howell to death.
According to WPTV, the widow Fulford said, “What Paul Howell did was murder my husband in cold blood.”
Howell will be executed by lethal injection 6pm on Friday at Florida State Prison.
He will be the fourth person to executed by a new combination of drugs that have been challenged legally, though unsuccessful. It has been argued in Florida state courts that the drugs violate the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment. However, as the people being executed have committed unspeakable crimes, the argument is gaining little steam.