A convicted murderer, many came to doubt the evidence that put him away
Troy Davis, a convicted murderer who many had come to believe was innocent, was executed by lethal injection at a prison in Georgia Wednesday. Davis’s case galvanized opponents of the death penalty. No physical evidence linked to him to the killing of police officer Mark MacPhail outside a Burger King in Savannah, Georgia in 1989. Most of the witnesses who fingered him for his crime have since recanted their testimony. Nonetheless, attempts by Davis’s lawyers to reopen the case failed. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court declined to hear a final appeal. Davis was put to death at 11:08 local time.