US man executed for killing minister

A 41-year-old man convicted of killing a minister has been executed by injection.

Before he died, Gerald Bivins pleaded for forgiveness for himself and those who put him to death in Michigan City, Indiana.

Bivins was condemned for killing the Rev William Radcliffe during a robbery at a service station along Interstate 65, north of Indianapolis, in 1991.

"I wish to apologise to the victim's family for the pain that I've caused them and for the pain that I've caused my family and friends, and I ask for their forgiveness. And I ask that those that do this to me be forgiven," he said.

He declined to exhaust his appeals, saying he was tired of prison life and frustrated.

Bivins said he killed the minister because the victim had recognised him during a robbery.

"I'm not trying to excuse it. Honestly, I don't think that makes it any better than one who did it to see what it feels like," Bivins had said.

Death penalty opponents had urged Gov Frank O'Bannon to commute Bivins' sentence to life in prison.

They questioned the governor's decision to allow the execution while a commission studies the fairness of Indiana's death penalty.

But O'Bannon said he would not intervene because Bivins had abandoned his appeals.