Florida execution is third in US in 24 hours

Florida has executed a man who fatally stabbed his wife and her young son in 1985.

It is the third U.S. execution in less than 24 hours, after a seven-week reprieve from executions since a botched lethal injection in Oklahoma.

The Florida governor's office says John Ruthell Henry was pronounced dead at 7:43 p.m. Wednesday.

The 63-year-old was convicted and sentenced to death for fatally stabbing his wife, Suzanne Henry.

Just before his execution, Henry asked for forgiveness and apologized for what he'd done.

He also was convicted of fatally stabbing Suzanne Henry's 5-year-old son hours after the woman's murder.

Henry previously had pleaded no contest to second-degree murder for stabbing his common-law wife, Patricia Roddy, in 1976. He served less than eight years and was released in 1983.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down a last-minute appeal.

The execution, along with two others in Georgia and Missouri in the last 24 hours, may show that states are unfazed by the recent furor over how the United States carries out lethal injections.

A botched execution seven weeks ago in Oklahoma amplified a national debate about the secretive ways many states obtain lethal injection drugs from loosely regulated pharmacies. Before Tuesday, nine executions were stayed or delayed — though some for reasons not related to the drug concerns.

Amid the court battles, many pro-death penalty states kept pushing to resume executions, including the three that scheduled lethal injections this week.

Lawyers for death row inmates have cited concerns that what happened in Oklahoma in April could be repeated, and they've challenged the secretive ways many states obtain lethal injection drugs.

There appeared to be no noticeable glitches in the Georgia or Missouri lethal injections. Marcus Wellons, 59, was put to death in Georgia for the 1989 rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl. In Missouri, John Winfield, 46, was executed for killing two women in 1996.

Four states are responsible for 20 of the 22 executions so far this year: Texas with seven, Missouri and Florida with five each, and three in Oklahoma. Georgia and Ohio have each performed one.

Al Jazeera and wire services