The prolonged saga of Richard Jordan’s nearly fifty-year wait on Death Row reached a climactic moment as Mississippi conducted its first execution since 2022, reigniting fierce debates about the future of capital punishment in America.
At a Glance
- Richard Jordan, 77, was executed by lethal injection in Mississippi on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
- He was the state’s longest-serving death row inmate, having spent 48 years on death row for a 1976 murder.
- His execution proceeded after the U.S. Supreme Court and Mississippi’s governor denied his final appeals for a stay and clemency.
- The case highlights the national divide over capital punishment, which is abolished in 23 states but actively used in others.
A 48-Year Wait Ends with Execution
Richard Jordan, 77, was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday evening at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. He was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m. Central Time. Jordan had spent 48 years on death row for the 1976 kidnapping and murder of Edwina Marter, a 33-year-old mother of two, making him one of the longest-serving death row inmates in United States history.
The execution was the first to be carried out in Mississippi since 2022. For his last meal, Jordan requested chicken tenders, fries, strawberry ice cream, and a root beer float.
Final Appeals Denied
Jordan’s final day was marked by a flurry of last-minute legal challenges, all of which were denied. On Wednesday morning, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves rejected Jordan’s petition for clemency, stating that Jordan showed “no remorse for his heinous crimes” and that the execution would bring “long-overdue justice.”
Later that afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court denied his final request for a stay of execution, clearing the way for the sentence to be carried out. Jordan’s attorneys had argued that his decades on death row constituted cruel and unusual punishment and that his case should be reconsidered due to claims of intellectual disability and PTSD from his three combat tours in the Vietnam War.
Justice for a 1976 Murder
The execution brought a sense of finality for the victim’s family. Marter’s son, Eric, who witnessed the execution, told the Associated Press that justice had finally been served. “For 48 years, we have waited for this day to come,” he said. “Edwina Marter can finally rest in peace.”
The case stands as an emblem of the deeply contested nature of the death penalty. While 23 states have abolished capital punishment, Mississippi remains one of the states that continues to use it. The state’s protocols allow for lethal injection as the primary method, with nitrogen hypoxia, electrocution, and the firing squad as legal alternatives. Jordan’s execution ensures that the complex legal, ethical, and moral debates surrounding capital punishment will continue.
