Charles Rhines: Death Row inmate issues bizarre statement before being executed by lethal injection

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Charles Rhines, 63, was executed by lethal injection at South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls on Monday night. “It is very sad and profoundly unjust that the state of South Dakota today executed Charles Rhines, a gay man, without any court ever hearing the evidence of gay bias that infected the jury’s decision to sentence him to death,” federal public defender Shawn Nolan said in a statement. Steve Allender, a Rapid City police detective at the time of the killing who is now the city’s mayor, said Rhines’ jury sentenced him to death partly because of Rhines’ “chilling laughter” as he described Schaeffer’s death spasms. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Rhines was the fifth South Dakota inmate put to death since the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionally of the capital punishment in 1976.