USA - Florida. Robert Lavern Henry, 55, Black, was executed

Robert Lavern Henry was put to death at Florida State Prison. Henry, 55, Black, a former Marine, was sentenced for the Nov. 2, 1987, murders of Janet Cox Thermidor, 35, and Phyllis Harris, 53, during a robbery. The victims were hit with a hammer, and then set on fire. He had confessed to the crime, but said that he was addicted to crack cocaine and under "a cocaine-induced psychosis.'' He also argued he'd suffered a severely dysfunctional childhood and had organic brain problems, court records show. Henry becomes the 4th inmate to be put to death this year in Florida, the 85th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1979, the 12th to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1371st overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.