Associated Press
Friday, December 4, 1998; Page B8

Kevin DeWayne Cardwell, who abducted, robbed and murdered a teenage drug courier in 1991, was executed by injection tonight. He had declined to seek clemency from Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R).

Cardwell, 29, was pronounced dead at 9:05 p.m. at the Greensville Correctional Center here.

Asked if he had a final statement, Cardwell said: "Personally, yeah. Why was all them sick people looking at me through that glass?" The reference was to witnesses who attend executions.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. Supreme Court had rejected his appeal 7 to 2, with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens in the minority. That was his last hope to avoid execution, since he chose not to request clemency.

Cardwell's attorney, Dennis W. Dohnal, said his client wanted "to depart with a sense of dignity."

Cardwell was visited today by his grandmother, his attorney and prison clergy, Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor said.

Cardwell was the 13th person executed in Virginia this year, the most since 17 were put to death in 1909, Traylor said. He was the 59th person executed in the state since a 1976 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed states to resume using the death penalty.

Cardwell was convicted in 1993 of the murder, robbery and abduction of Anthony Brown, of Hempstead, N.Y., in Henrico County, a suburb of Richmond. Cardwell and several friends learned that Brown was arriving at a Richmond bus station with drugs, met him and took his luggage.

When they discovered no drugs in the bags, a friend of Cardwell's lured Brown to Cardwell's apartment, where they found cocaine taped to Brown's leg. The men then took Brown into woods, where Cardwell killed him.

In August, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Cardwell's contention that he received ineffective counsel. Cardwell contended his lawyers failed to present evidence on his mental health.