Attorney General Shares Letter From Robert

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has released a copy of a letter sent to him by a man executed Monday night.

Eric Robert sent the letter on October 8, 2012.  In it, he thanks Jackley for showing him humanity but proposes changes to South Dakota law in regards to death penalty cases that are uncontested. 

Robert says the process followed for his mandatory appeal to the Supreme Court did not allow for a death sentence to be carried through in a timely fashion.  Instead, he suggests Jackley propose a change to the state law which he says would help the courts move more swiftly through an uncontested appeal, a proposal he called the "RJ Johnson Amendment."

Jackley says he didn't respond to Robert because the content of the letter speaks for itself. 

Robert was executed for his role in the 2011 murder of Correctional Officer Ron Johnson during an escape attempt from the South Dakota State Penitentiary.

Fellow inmate Rodney Berget has also pleaded guilty to the crime.  Berget's mandatory appeal to the South Dakota Supreme Court is yet to be ruled on. A third inmate, Michael Nordman received a life sentence for supplying the metal pipe and shrink wrap used in the murder.