Georgia convicted killer executed

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Melbert Ray Ford was executed Wednesday night. He was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend and her 11-year-old niece. The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously denied his motion to halt his execution. Ga. Department of Corrections photo via AP

June 9, 2010

GREG BLUESTEIN/Associated Press Writer Associated Press Wed Jun 09, 2010, 08:12 PM EDT

JACKSON — Georgia Department of Corrections officials say they executed convicted double-murderer Melbert Ray Ford at 7:27 p.m. Wednesday.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday denied Ford's motion to delay the lethal injection, which took place at the state prison in Jackson. The Georgia Supreme Court had earlier voted unanimously to deny a similar appeal.

Ford's attorney Brian Mendelsohn had argued that the death penalty is disproportionate and amounts to cruel and unusual punishment because he's sat on death row for more than two decades.

But state prosecutors countered the arguments were a "ruse" and pointed to other rulings that repeatedly upheld the death sentence.

Prosecutors say the 49-year-old was seeking revenge when he killed Martha Chapman Matich and her niece Lisa Chapman in 1986.

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