JARRATT, Va., March 14 (UPI) -- A Virginia prisoner who confessed to the murder of a 56-year-
old grandmother after being linked to the crime through DNA
samples taken from inmates was executed on Thursday by lethal
injection.
James Earl Patterson, 35, who was serving a 25-year-sentence
for rape when he was identified as the woman's killer, was put to
death at the Greensville Correctional Center at 9:10 p.m. (EST),
a prison spokesman said.
Patterson was executed for the murder of Joyce Sneed Aldridge,
who was raped, sexually assaulted and repeatedly stabbed in her
Prince George County home on Oct. 11, 1987.
Members of Aldridge's family witnessed the execution as
Patterson apologized for "my evil deeds."
"I am at peace now and ready to meet my maker," Patterson said.
He was charged with the crime in 1999 after the Virginia
Division of Forensic Science compared DNA samples from the crime
scene with DNA from state prison inmates. Patterson confessed,
pleaded guilty and asked for the death sentence.
In a videotaped confession, he said he had been drinking and
using cocaine the night of the attack. He said he stabbed
Aldridge with a kitchen knife and left her to die. He returned a
few minutes later and stabbed her another 14 times.
Division of Forensic Science Director Paul Ferrera said he
believes this was the first execution in Virginia triggered by
comparison of samples from the state's DNA database of 170,000
felons.
There have been 84 executions in Virginia since the death
penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976. The
execution was the first in the state since Christopher Beck was
put to death on Oct. 18, 2001.
