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Eric Robert will be put to death by lethal injection sometime after 10 p.m. Monday night. His capital punishment comes after his killing of correctional officer Ronald "RJ" Johnson in April of 2011.
By his own words, Robert asked to be put to death.
“On the 12th day of April, I chose to kill. I chose to execute someone. You should do the same,” Robert told a judge nearly a year ago in a Minnehaha County courtroom as he admitted to the brutal murder and escape attempt.
“If you sentence me to life, I'll believe you'll read someday that I've killed again,” Robert said.
RJ Johnson's family also asked for the death penalty. The South Dakota Supreme court upheld Robert's sentence in August of this year.
Robert is one of five death row inmates housed in a maximum security wing of the state penitentiary.
The last execution carried out in South Dakota was in 2007. That's when Elijah Page was put to death by lethal injection for the murder of Chester Allan Poage. Page's execution was the first in the state in 60 years.
Robert's execution is one of two set for this year. In fact, it's one of two set for this month. That's a first in the state in 110 years. The other inmate in the Johnson case, Rodney Berget, has appealed his death sentence with the South Dakota Supreme Court.
Another execution expected this month is Donald Moeller, who was convicted in the rape and murder of nine-year-old Becky O'Connell more than 20 years ago.
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