Why West Virginia has no death penalty
By Beth Vorhees
A federal jury has returned the death penalty for to Mingo county residents convicted of murdering a drug informant. George Lecco and Valerie Friend face the first death sentences in WV in more than 40 years, for federal charges.
In WV courts, there is no death penalty, one of 12 states without one since 1965. Jack Canfield was Gov. Hulett Smith’s press secretary when the death penalty was abolished in the state.
