US executes mentally deficient woman

An American grandmother diagnosed with borderline mental retardation has been executed despite thousands pleading for her execution to be canceled.

The 41-year-old Teresa Lewis, found guilty of plotting to kill her husband and her stepson in 2002 for life insurance money, has been executed in Virginia by lethal injection on Thursday, 9 p.m. local time.

Earlier this week, the US Supreme Court turned down her appeal for a stay of execution despite doctors repeatedly saying that she was not smart enough to have masterminded the murders. She was judged to have an IQ of 72, the Guardian reported.

Lewis had admitted to hiring two accomplices. She, however, had insisted that she did not pull the trigger. Lewis’ lawyers had revealed evidence that showed one of the gunmen had masterminded the plot. The two men received life sentences.

Thousands had pled for her execution to be canceled, including author John Grisham and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the US Supreme Court and Virginian Governor Bob McDonnell refused to cancel the execution.