3 Executed in 1 Night to Cut Costs, Stress

For only the second time since 1976, Arkansas executed three killers, with the last condemned man waiting on a gurney with needles in his arms while the U.S. Supreme Court considered his last-minute appeal. Kirt Wainwright waited 40 minutes until the high court refused to hear his final plea in the 1988 killing of a convenience store clerk. Earlier, Earl Van Denton and Paul Ruiz were executed for the murder of a town marshal and a park ranger in 1977. The men were executed on the same night to reduce overtime costs and stress on prison staff.