Georgia Man Silent Before His Execution For Double Murder Of Ex-Wife And Boyfriend

A Georgia man said nothing as he was put to death on Wednesday evening via lethal injection.

Donnie Cleveland, 66, also declined to have a chaplain say a prayer for him as he was executed just after 9 pm at the state penitentiary in Jackson.

He had been convicted of beating Sabrina Joy Lance to death with a shotgun and shooting her boyfriend, Dwight "Butch" Wood, in the front and back after kicking in the door of his home in 1997.

His children, Jessie Lance and Stephanie Lance Cape wrote a letter pleading to the parole board in a clemency hearing saying they had spent their entire lives with a massive hole in their hearts, but they have always had their father at their side.

They tried to get new DNA testing to confirm it was their father who committed the crime, but they were careful not to argue for his innocence.

Lance has repeatedly claimed innocence, and the lawyers argued no physical evidence tied him to the crime. The prosecutors said the evidence, even though circumstantial proved to be overwhelming.

However, there were no witnesses at the scene, and no murder weapon was found according to the court records.

The defense stated the prosecution instead focused their argument on Lance.

During the trial, the court also rejected requests from the defense to test the DNA evidence. It could have proven his innocence, and another argument was the jury was packed with people who were biased against the defendant.

The prosecution claimed Lance had a history of abuse and inflicted the same on his wife. He had even allegedly tried threatened to kill her several times. Witnesses at the trial confirmed he threatened her life if she began dating Wood.

Supreme court justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, wrote a dissent last year when the Supreme Court declined to take the case. They stated they were concerned the jury that sentenced him did not know about his brain damage or the fact he had an IQ close to that of mental retardation.

His children pleaded that they have always included their father in every significant decision in their lives. They were apparently closer to him while in prison than a lot of people they knew were to their relatives.

The request by the children was denied by the Parole Board and the US Supreme Court to stay the execution.

Lance was visited by 15 family members, one friend, and his attorneys before his death on Wednesday.