US man executed for murder of topless dancer

A US man who raped and suffocated a topless dancer in 1975 was executed overnight after decades of retrials and appeals.

James Brown, 55, was executed by injection at the state prison in Jackson, Georgia for the murder of Brenda Watson.

In their appeals, his lawyers had argued he was insane and should have been resentenced to life in prison.

In the death chamber, Brown was asked whether he wanted to make a final statement, but he merely shook his head. Asked whether he wanted a final prayer, he again shook his head.

According to authorities, Brown and Watson, 21, ate, drank and danced at a lounge on the night of her death, leaving together shortly before midnight.

Her body was found the next day in woods. She had been tied with nylon cord and was mostly naked. Brown raped Watson as she suffocated on her underwear, which had been forced down her throat.

Brown was sentenced to death in two separate jury trials – the first in 1981. A federal court reversed his sentence in 1988. Brown was retried and sentenced to death in 1990.

Brown’s lawyers argued he was a paranoid schizophrenic who should have never been sentenced to death. A group of eight protesters held a candlelight vigil outside the prison last night.

“I just feel strongly that there are enough victims already,” said John Bringewatt, of St Paul, Minnesota.