Missouri inmate David Hosier died by lethal injection Tuesday evening, accepting his fate despite several pleas from family members and lawmakers to halt the convicted killer's execution.
A day prior, Gov. Mike Parson declined to pardon Hosier, 69, for the 2009 double slayings of Angela Gilpin and her husband, Rodney Gilpin, in the hallway of their apartment building in Jefferson City, Missouri, shortly after Angela ended her affair with Hosier.
He is "accepting his fate, and his faith. I think he feels like he's stood up for himself and gained a lot of dignity in the process," Reverend Jeff Hood, Hosier's spiritual adviser, said Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
He was sent to death row in 2013.
"I've been able to speak the truth of my innocence," Hosier said in a final statement shared with NBC News hours before his execution. "I've been able to set an example of resistance to lawyers who bully their clients. I've been able to reminisce with family and friends new and old. I've been able to learn to be the fullest version of me."
Hosier's attorneys argued their client's mental health issues triggered at the age of 16 by the murder of his police officer father, coupled with his service in the military and as a fireman, should make him void of the death penalty, and he should instead be sentenced to life in prison.
In a clemency video published Friday, Hosier's sisters spoke to the trauma their father's death had on him and said his murder, "was like a crater, and David fell into that crater."
Reps. Cori Bush and Emanuel Cleaver also sent a letter to Parson asking him to spare Hosier's life, but the governor rejected their request.
"Ms. Angela Gilpin had her life stolen by David Hosier because he could not accept it when she ended their romantic involvement. He displays no remorse for his senseless violence," Parson said in a statement. "For these heinous acts, Hosier earned maximum punishment under the law. I cannot imagine the pain experienced by Angela's and Rodney's loved ones but hope that carrying out Hosier's sentence according to the Court's order brings closure."
