NASHVILLE — The state of Tennessee on Wednesday carried out the execution of 75-year-old Oscar Franklin Smith, making him one of the oldest inmates put to death in U.S. history.
Smith, who was convicted in 1990 of the brutal murders of his estranged wife and her two teenage sons, maintained his innocence until his final moments.
Smith was executed by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
Where he had spent more than three decades on death row for the 1989 killings of Judith Robirds Smith and her sons, Chad and Jason Burnett.
Before the drugs were administered, Smith delivered a pointed and defiant final statement criticizing the justice system and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.
“Somebody needs to tell the governor the justice system doesn’t work,” Smith said. “He’s a damned fool if he doesn’t realize we’ve got innocent men at Riverbend waiting to die. I’m not the first, and I won’t be the last.”
