Execution of the Century

As many states permit the death penalty verdict, it is difficult to impress anyone in the U.S. with death penalty news.

However, the case of Teresa Lewis — who was sentenced to lethal injection — was a subject of extensive discussion and heated debate in America for two reasons. First, a woman was to be executed — that is very rare, even in the U.S. — and second, she is the first woman on death row in Virginia in nearly a century.

On Tuesday, Sept. 21, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Teresa Lewis’ appeal and upheld the Virginia Supreme Court’s death penalty verdict. As a result, the 41-year-old woman will be executed on Thursday, Sept. 23, at the Greensville Correction Center in Jarratt, Virginia.

Teresa Lewis was found guilty of a double murder committed with self-serving motives. The victims were her husband, Julian, and her stepson, Charles. The motive for the murder, according to authorities, was to collect her stepson’s life insurance policy worth $250,000, of which his father was the primary beneficiary. Teresa persuaded her lover, Matthew Shallenberger, and his accomplice, Rodney Fuller, to kill her husband and stepson in exchange for cash and “sexual favors” from herself and her 16-year-old daughter.

This cold-blooded and sinister plan was executed in October 2002. During the investigation, it was established that Teresa was present at the time of the killings. The woman was searching her husband’s pockets while he was bleeding to death, and waited an hour before calling paramedics. The police, however, quickly uncovered what really happened. Teresa and her two accomplices were arrested. Shallenberger and Fuller fully cooperated with authorities and were sentenced to life in prison. However, in 2006 Shallenberger committed suicide in prison because of a guilty conscience.

Despite Teresa Lewis being a woman, the Virginia Supreme Court decided that her crime deserved capital punishment. One of the reasons for such a decision was her sinister and self-serving action during the murder.

The defense tried everything possible in order to save her life. Teresa’s lawyer, Jim Rocap, argued that she was manipulated by Shallenberger, who took advantage of Lewis’ problems and convinced her to organize the murder.

Nevertheless, all circumstances were against the 41-year-old woman. Doctors stated that Lewis’ psyche was stable and her motive was too obvious. Most people turned away from her. Besides, Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia publicly refused to meet Lewis lawyers’ requests to pardon her.

By the way, the last woman who received the death penalty in Virginia was executed in 1912. At that time, the 17-year-old girl was sentenced to death by the electric chair for strangling her boss.