A prisoner who spent over a decade on death row for a crime he insisted he didn’t commit was executed today by lethal injection. David Hosier, 69, was put to death shortly after 7pm local time in Missouri, while protesters advocating for the abolishment of the death penalty gathered in several locations across the state to ask for his clemency. Hosier was convicted of first-degree murder in 2013 and sentenced to death for the killing of 45-year-old Angela Gilpin in September 2009. Angela and her husband, Rodney, 61, were found dead in the hallway of their Jefferson City apartment building. READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: ‘I’ve been on death row for 10 years – now I’m being killed for a crime I didn’t commit’ READ MORE: James Bulger’s mum’s heartbreaking message to family of man killed by 12-year-olds with machetes Prosecutors claimed all clues pointed to Hosier, a veteran who once walked the halls of the Pentagon. When the police caught up with him near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, about 310 miles southwest of Jefferson City, they found around 400 rounds of ammunition and 15 firearms in his possession, according to court records obtained by The Kansas City Star. Angela had been in a relationship with Hosier, which she ended to reconcile with her husband. Allegedly, Hosier began stalking her after the breakup, with a neighbour telling the police, according to court records, that Hosier had expressed, “If I can’t have Angela, nobody can.” In Hosier’s car, along with the firearms, the police found a note that read, “If you are going with someone do not lie to them… Be honest with them and tell them if there is something wrong. If you do not this could happen to YOU!! … they can go off the deap [sic] end!” For all the latest news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US Despite his insistence on innocence and lack of a solid alibi for the day of the crime, Hosier’s appeals for clemency or overturning of his conviction were consistently denied, including a last-ditch effort to Missouri Governor Mike Parson, who rejected it just over 24 hours before the execution. “Everybody, no matter what, is afraid of death,” Hosier exclusively told The Mirror. “If they say they’re not, something’s wrong with them.” Hosier maintained his innocence, citing the lack of tangible evidence tying him to the crime. “I know I’m innocent. I was not there. I did not kill these people. Period. I don’t know who did, but they’re still walking around free,” he said. “I still don’t understand how you can find a person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and sentence a person to death when you have no witnesses to tie this person to the crime… no hard, physical evidence to tie me to this crime.” Hosier also exclusively told The Mirror that his public defenders missed the filing deadline for an appeal to the US Supreme Court, moving up his execution and costing him valuable time, his spiritual adviser, Reverend Doctor Jeff Hood, told The Mirror. His final statement to Hood, which the latter shared with The Mirror, reads, “I’m the luckiest man on earth. Just in the last few weeks… I’ve been able to speak the truth of my innocence. I’ve been able to set an example of resistance to lawyers who bully their clients. I’ve been able to reminisce with family and friends new and old. I’ve been able to learn to be, the fullest version of me.” He added, “I leave you all with love. Now, I get to go to heaven. Don’t cry for me. Just join me when your time comes.”
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