Prosecutor: Moeller Is A Monster

It was one of most heinous crimes in South Dakota that anyone can remember.

22 years ago, a 9-year-old girl by the name of Becky O'Connell was walking to the store to buy some candy. She was kidnapped, raped and brutally murder at the hands of Donald Moeller.  Her mutilated body was found the next day in a wooded area near Lake Alvin. 

In two weeks, her killer is scheduled to die by lethal injection, ending a case of unspeakable crimes.

For the first time in more than a hundred years, South Dakota's Department of Corrections will execute a second inmate in the same year and just weeks apart.

Donald Moeller's days are numbered.

"I think and most law enforcement officers who worked on this case would say that this was probably one of the most, if not thee most, horrific crime that this state has ever seen," former Lincoln County State's Attorney  Scott Abdallah said.

Abdallah prosecuted Moeller the second time after his first conviction was reversed by the Supreme Court.  Abdallah says Moeller deserves to die for what he did to an innocent girl.

Don: He was stabbing her as he was raping her?
Scott: Yes, and repeatedly, the knife going all the way to the hilt, literally he was a monster beyond description.

Abdallah says most people never knew the name Becky O'Connell 22 years ago, but now it's unfortunate, her name will forever be linked to that man he calls a monster.

"There were a lot of horrible photos taken by law enforcement at the crime scene, but the photo that still sticks with me and that everyone saw when she was missing that school photo, just a sweet innocent little girl," Abdallah said. "I think that's the person people should remember and all the good that was lost because of this horrible crime."

As the man who prosecuted Moeller, Abdallah was invited to be a witness to Moeller's execution, but declined saying he wanted one of the law officers who spent hours upon hours investigating the case to take his place.