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Child rapist-killer executed in Missouri

Missouri Department of Corrections prisioner Martin Link is is scheduled to die by lethal injection at midnight February 9, 2011 at the state prison in Bonne Terre for the 1991 death of an 11-year-old St. Louis girl. Elissa Self disappeared from her bus stop on January 11, 1991 and was found four days later along the St. Francis River, 135 miles from St. Louis. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon denied clemency to Link on February 7. The Link execution will be the stateÕs first execution in nearly two years. UPI/Missouri Department of Corrections
1 of 2 | Missouri Department of Corrections prisioner Martin Link is is scheduled to die by lethal injection at midnight February 9, 2011 at the state prison in Bonne Terre for the 1991 death of an 11-year-old St. Louis girl. Elissa Self disappeared from her bus stop on January 11, 1991 and was found four days later along the St. Francis River, 135 miles from St. Louis. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon denied clemency to Link on February 7. The Link execution will be the stateÕs first execution in nearly two years. UPI/Missouri Department of Corrections | License Photo

BONNE TERRE, Mo., Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Martin Link, convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing an 11-year-old girl, was executed Wednesday at Bonne Terre Correctional Center in Missouri.

On Monday, Gov. Jay Nixon denied clemency for Link, found guilty for the 1991 death of Elissa Self-Braun.

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The girl vanished while walking to her bus stop in January 1991. Her body was discovered four days later on the bank of the St. Francis River.

Pamela Braun, Elissa's mother, held a photograph of her daughter as she read a statement after the execution, the Columbia Missourian reported.

"We have been truly blessed the justice system has worked for Elissa, whereas there are still many victims and homicide survivors still waiting for justice," the mother said.

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