Tags: Criminal.
John William Byrd Jr. (December 18 1963 – February 19 2002) was executed by lethal injection for the murder of convenience store clerk Monte Tewksbury. Byrd who protested his innocence up until his execution had spent 18 years and 6 months on Ohio’s death row.The third execution since Ohio reintroduced the death penalty in 1981 Byrd’s case was by far the most contentious capital case of the first three. His execution remains as controversial today as it was in 2002.