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Rhines died by lethal injection, the attorney general said. He offered no apology before his death.
When he was asked if he had anything to say, Rhines turned to the parents of his victim for his last words.
Rhines was convicted in January 1993 for killing Donnivan Schaeffer during a burglary at a Rapid City doughnut shop, the attorney general said.
Schaeffer, Rhines’ victim, was set to graduate Western Dakota Tech and was engaged to be married, Ravnsborg said.
“Donnivan was funny, kind and a hard worker, prepared to start a career with a telephone installation company,” the attorney general said.
His fiancée, Sheila Jackson, said Monday that while the execution “closes the books on Rhines,” Schaeffer’s family will “forever feel the pain and the emotions that Rhines caused us.”
He had appealed before
The execution was delayed by about six hours until the US Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for Rhines.
The convicted killer had previously appealed his sentencing based on juror statements that his attorneys said indicated discrimination based on his sexuality. After Rhines’ guilty verdict, jurors learned that he was gay and while deciding whether to sentence him to life imprisonment or death sent the trial judge a note with question on Rhines’ sexuality.
On appeal, Rhines relied on the notes to argue anti-gay prejudice had influenced the juror’s sentencing decision.
“Anti-gay bias, if left unaddressed, risks systemic harm to the justice system, and in particular, capital jury sentencing,” Rhines’ lawyers told the justices in court briefs.
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