Va. Governor Denies Clemency for Woman Set to Die

Gov. Bob McDonnell has refused to block the planned execution of a death row inmate who would be the first woman to be executed in Virginia in almost a century.

In a statement Friday night, McDonnell said he has carefully reviewed Teresa Lewis's petition and decided there is no compelling reason to set aside her death sentence.

Lewis, 40, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday for plotting to have her husband and stepson killed in their Pittsylvania County home in 2002 so she could collect a $250,000 life insurance policy.

She would be the first woman executed in Virginia since 1912.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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