Flags flew at half mast yesterday, vigils were held throughout Wednesday night, and a protest was staged outside the US Embassy in Rome as Italy mourned the execution of Joseph O'Dell, a convicted US murderer, early yesterday morning in
Greensville, Virginia.
While O'Dell had no connection with Italy, spoke no Italian and had no
Italian relatives, his case has become nothing less than a cause celebre in the last year as Italy's traditional, judicial garantismo (respect for civil rights), became focused on O'Dell. The campaign was motivated by the Italian repugnance for capital punishment and by rights movements including Amnesty
International.
O'Dell was executed for the February 1985 murder of Helen Schartner, savagely beaten, raped and then killed outside a bar in Virginia Beach. O'Dell, who had already been convicted of murder, always declared his innocence, admitting that he had done "many terrible things" in his life but he had not killed Ms
Schartner.
Pope John Paul II, the Italian State President, Mr Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, and the Prime Minister, Mr Romano Prodi, all made appeals, while Italian media have dedicated much time to his case, claiming that fresh DNA evidence not considered at his trial would prove his innocence.
Throughout the early hours of yesterday morning, state television and radio covered the execution live from Virginia, while yesterday's dailies all gave front-page treatment to O'Dell's death by lethal injection.