Georgia To Execute Female Prisoner - Georgia is set to execute it's only female death row inmate on Wednesday, unless the state parole board decides otherwise, this would be the first time a woman is executed since 1945.
The scheduled execution of Kelly Renee Gissendaner, 46, at the state prison located in Jackson would be ending a 70-year streak. Lena Baker, an African American woman convicted of murder in Randolph was the last female prisoner the state executed.
Kelly Renee Gissendaner was convicted of murder in February 1997 for killing her husband Douglas Gissendaner, in a plot that involved her boyfriend, Gregory Owen.
Gissendaner arranged with the 43-year-old Owen to have her husband killed. Court testimony reveals that Owen wanted Gissendaner to file for divorce from her husband, but she expressed concerns that he would "not leave her alone if she simply divorced him."
Reports indicate that on Feb.7, 1997, Gissendaner called police officer to report that her husband had not returned home after dinner with friends in Lawrenceville, close to Atlanta.
Officials mounted a search and two days later his burned car was found, and about a week after, his body was discovered nearly a mile from the car. Douglas Gissendaner's body was found in a remote wooded area with several stab wounds.
She was arrested shortly after Owen confessed to the killing and implicated her.
Reports reveal that Gissendaner has depleted all state and federal appeals at her disposal. Her fate now lies in the hands of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles who will consider her request for clemency on Tuesday.
For her last meal, Gissendaner has reportedly requested two Burger King Whoppers with cheese, two large orders of fries, popcorn, cornbread, a side of buttermilk and a salad with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, carrots, cheese, boiled eggs and Paul Newman buttermilk dressing.
Reports also indicate that she has requested a glass of lemonade and cherry-vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Only 15 women have been executed in the U.S. history, since 1977.
