The Alabama Supreme Court has set a June 2 execution date for Jerry Paul Henderson, convicted in a 1984 murder-for-hire killing in Talladega. A court spokesman announced Tuesday that Henderson had been given a date to be executed by lethal injection at Holman prison near Atmore. Henderson, now 58, was convicted of capital murder in the 1984 shooting death of his sister-in-law's husband, Jerry Haney, 33. According to court records, after a fight with her husband Judy Haney, told her sister, Martha Henderson, and the sister's husband, Jerry Paul Henderson, that she would give them all the money she had if they would make sure Jerry Haney wouldn't bother her anymore. Henderson was accused of shooting Jerry Haney to death on Jan. 1. He and Judy Haney were arrested more than three years later when Martha Henderson agreed to wear a wire and get her husband to talk about the murder. Judy Haney was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, but her sentence was reduced in 1997 to life in prison without parole under an agreement with state prosecutors and the family of the victim. Her brother-in-law remained on death row, where his lengthy appeals have included claims of ineffectiveness of counsel and mitigating circumstances not being brought out at his trial. For the victim's family, it has been a 21-year wait for closure. Haney, a father of two children, had seven sisters and three brothers. "I wish my dad would have lived to see it," said Donald Haney, 57, of Talladega, one of the victim's brothers and a former police officer who had worked on solving the slaying. Another brother, Talladega Police Lt. Billy Haney, 50, said he plans to witness the execution to represent the family, going not out of revenge, but "just a matter of seeing justice come out." "It restores some bit of faith in the judicial system that I've worked for so many years. As far as closure and the loss of my brother, it won't change anything," Billy Haney said. "This is going to be as touching a moment as the trial itself." The officer said his brother was a person with strong moral values who "provided well for his family." UPDATE: At 6:24 p.m. Thursday, the state of Alabama executed Jerry Paul Henderson, 58, formerly of Calhoun, Ga., by means of lethal injection at Holman Prison in Atmore for a crime committed more than two decades ago. According to the Associated Press, Henderson’s last words reflected that he was "very sorry for the pain I’ve caused." Henderson was convicted and sentenced to death for the New Year’s Day 1984 murder of his sister-in-law’s husband, Jerry Haney. Haney’s wife, Judy Haney, paid Henderson $3,000 for the murder. Judy Haney was also convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, but her sentence was later reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Former Talladega County District Attorney Robert Rumsey prosecuted Henderson, and characterized Haney’s murder as "almost perfect." The Hendersons threw a party that New Year’s Eve at their home in Georgia. Excusing himself from his guests, Henderson said he was not feeling well and went to lie down in a back bedroom. He then climbed out his bedroom window and drove to Haney’s residence in Talladega. According to court documents, Henderson "lured Haney to his front porch and shot (him) with a shotgun." After knocking on the door, Henderson told Haney he was bringing his wife and children back from Georgia, but they had run out of gas. When Haney came out of the house, Henderson opened fire. The first shot struck Haney in the chest, but was not fatal. A second shot merely grazed his ear. According to court documents, Haney made it to the back porch before collapsing and begging for his life. "Henderson responded to this plea for mercy by putting the shotgun a few inches from Haney’s face and firing a third time. This shot blew Haney’s lips and teeth off and went into his skull, ending his life," according to documents submitted by the state Attorney General’s Office requesting an execution date. After taking $80 from Haney, Henderson returned home, climbed back into his home through his bedroom window, and rejoined his party guests. It would be more than three years before Haney’s murder was solved and Henderson was arrested. In spite of the long investigation and the alibi created by the party guests, Rumsey said investigators had strong suspicions from the beginning. "After the killing, Henderson stopped at a restaurant in Oxford and called his wife and Judy Haney back in Georgia to let them know he had carried out the plan. He put money in the pay phone, but when the 3 minutes ran out, he didn’t have any more change. So they got the number of the pay phone and called him back." The call showed up in the couple’s phone records. "So we knew that someone had made a long distance call to a pay phone within just a few minutes after the killing," Rumsey said. "Then, later on, we told Henderson we were coming to examine his shotgun to see if we could match it to the shooting. Of course, you can’t really do that with a shotgun, but apparently he didn’t know that." Shortly before investigators arrived in Georgia, Henderson said his shotgun had been stolen from his truck. "But the glass on the truck window was broken out, not in," Rumsey said. "That confirmed our suspicions." The shotgun was later tossed into a river, and has never been recovered. Eventually, Henderson’s wife, Martha, confessed to her role in the plot, and agreed to wear a wire, which led to her husband’s arrest. According to court papers, Henderson confessed shortly after his arrest. Jerry Haney’s brother, Billy Haney, is a lieutenant in the Talladega Police Department. He had just ended his shift on the night his brother was murdered, and was the first officer on the scene. Judy Haney had called him at home and said she was concerned because she could not reach her husband by phone. Billy Haney attended Henderson’s execution, and was not available for comment Thursday night. When Henderson’s execution date was set in May, however, Billy Haney told The Daily Home "it took the justice system an awfully long time to come around, but that’s how it works. I still have every faith and confidence that the system works, but sometimes I wish it could be speeded up a little. I’ve lost both my parents and my sister since Jerry was killed. And Henderson got to live on this earth 21 years longer than my brother did. So there’s still some bitterness there." Billy Haney and one of his surviving brothers attended the execution. "It’s not a revenge venture, it’s just for peace of mind, for closure. I’m there to represent my family, especially my sister and my parents. It’s a ritual to bring us all some peace." One of the victim’s nephews also witnessed the execution, according to the Associated Press. Henderson stood trial in 1989, and was convicted of two counts of capital murder, being a murder for hire and murder during the course of a robbery. Rumsey said he was satisfied that justice was being done. "It is certainly sad, but this was gruesome, almost perfectly planned murder. It was solved thanks to excellent police work, and progressed through the state and federal systems just as it should. There is no issue as to his guilt." Assistant District Attorney Barry Matson said, "My heart goes out to the Haney family. Victims and their families live with the results of violent crimes their whole lives, and the Haneys will continue to live with what Henderson did. It’s not closure, I think that’s an overused word that should be retired. But I hope they do receive at least some sense of justice."

The Indiana Supreme Court this week set a June 22 execution date for the convicted killer of a Muncie police officer. The execution order was issued Thursday, along with the Supreme Court's rejection of Michael A. Lambert's most recent bid to have his death sentence overturned. Attorneys in the case have said Lambert's appeal options are dwindling. This week's ruling was by a 3-2 vote, with the most recent appointees to the Supreme Court, Theodore Boehm and Robert Rucker, issuing dissenting opinions in which they suggested Lambert's request for a new sentencing hearing should be granted. Lambert, now 34, would receive a lethal injection at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, where he has been held since being sentenced to death by Judge Robert Barnet Jr. in January 1992. Officer Winters, 32, was shot and killed at nearly 3:00 am by a prisoner he was transporting to jail after arresting him for public intoxication. Officer Winters had handcuffed Lambert and placed him in the rear seat of the cruiser. Approximately 1/8 mile from the jail, Lambert was able to pull out a .25 caliber semi automatic handgun he had concealed and shot Officer Winters in the back of the head and neck five times. Officer Winters is survived by his wife and two sons and had been with the Muncie Police Department for four years. The execution order specifies that Lambert should be put to death "before sunrise" on June 22. UPDATE:  federal appeals court on Friday blocked the execution scheduled for next week of Michael Lambert for the shooting death of a Muncie police officer. The order by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago came as the Indiana Parole Board was hearing testimony on Lambert's request that his life be spared. Steve Creason, a deputy state attorney general, said the order would delay the scheduled Wednesday execution of Lambert as the court wanted time to decide whether Lambert could proceed with a new appeal. He was condemned for the December 1990 death of Officer Greg Winters. Lambert's attorney, Alan Freedman, asked the appeals court on Monday to reconsider the case, claiming that certain victim impact testimony may have flawed the jury's recommendation for death. In a previous appeal, the Indiana Supreme Court agreed with Lambert that the jury should not have heard certain evidence about the impact that Winters' death had on his family and co-workers. It said the testimony was irrelevant to the aggravating factor — that Winters was an officer killed in the line of duty — and should not have been admitted. But the high court exercised its authority to reweigh the sentence and concluded that aggravating factors outweighed mitigating ones, and affirmed the death sentence. It declined Lambert's latest appeal on April 28 and set the execution date. Two justices dissented in that ruling, however, saying that jurors might not have recommended the death sentence had the erroneously introduced victim impact evidence been excluded. The parole board decided to continue to take testimony on Friday, but Chairman Ray Rizzo said the board would not make a clemency recommendation to Gov. Mitch Daniels pending the stay. The board had already heard from friends and relatives of Lambert, who said that he was deeply remorseful for killing Winters and that his execution would only bring more heartache to others. "It's not going to heal your pain. It's not going to take away suffering from the families. It is going to add," said Mary Ramsey, Lambert's sister. Ramsey was among several people who said that Lambert, 34, had taken full responsibility for his actions and deeply regretted the pain he had inflicted on so many people. The fatal shooting of Winters happened after police officers arrested Lambert, who was then 20, for public intoxication, briefly patted him down and put him in the back seat of Winters' cruiser. A few minutes later, two officers saw Winters' car approaching when he suddenly slid off the road and into a ditch. Winters was shot five times to the back of his head and neck. Lambert told the parole board during a hearing Monday at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City that he was so drunk at the time of the shooting he could only remember brief snippets of what happened. He said did not know what he had done until his mother told him the next day. He previously tried to claim there was another gunman involved, but Monday he accepted responsibility. Still, he said he wanted to live and try to make amends to his son and mother. UPDATE: The Indiana attorney general's office filed new documents Monday in an effort to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the postponement of Michael Allen Lambert's execution. "The right courts have already decided that (death) is the appropriate sentence," Deputy Attorney General Stephen Creason said. The attorney general's office appealed to the Supreme Court on Friday after the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago granted a stay. Lambert, 34, convicted of the 1990 murder of Muncie Police Officer Gregg Winters, had been scheduled for execution at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Defense attorneys said Lambert was placed on Death Row by judges, not a jury. That's forbidden under today's death penalty rules. Lambert's lawyer, Alan Freedman, said Lambert deserves a chance to argue his case. "We may ultimately lose and Michael may be put to death," Freedman said, "but when a conservative court like the 7th Circuit says, 'Time out; we want to consider this,' they should be listened to."