Murderer sane enough for execution

WASHINGTON - Horace Kelly, a triple murderer on Death Row in California, is sane enough to be executed, a jury decided yesterday, writes Andrew Marshall.

The case of Kelly, 38, has raised high passions. He was sentenced to death for killing two women and an 11-year-old boy, and had been scheduled for execution last month. But his lawyers say that he is insane and should not be executed, a view that received some backing from a prison medical report. They say that he speaks gibberish, has no idea where he is and cannot understand what is happening to him.

The decision was referred to a jury in San Rafael. Yesterday, by nine to three, they decided that he was fit to die. There were two questions before the jury: whether Kelly knew he had been sentenced to death, and why. They took less than two hours to decide that he did.

The verdict means that the execution process will now be restarted, though Kelly's lawyers are expected to appeal.