Original Article Kenneth Lee Boyd, a North Carolina double murderer who said he didn't want to be known as a number, became the 1,000th person executed in the United States since capital punishment resumed 28 years ago. Boyd, who brazenly gunned down his estranged wife and father-in-law 17 years earlier, died at 2:15 a.m. Friday after receiving a lethal injection. Boyd, 57, did not deny killing Julie Curry Boyd, 36, and her father, 57-year-old Thomas Dillard Curry. In his final words, Boyd said: "God bless everybody in here." http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/105263 S. Carolina inmate is 1,001st executed in U.S. since 1977 WIRE REPORTS Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.03.2005 RALEIGH, N.C. The 1,000th and 1,001st executions in the United States since capital punishment resumed in 1977 occurred Friday within a 16-hour span. Shawn Humphries was the 1,001st person executed. He was convicted of the 1994 murder of a store clerk. Humphries, 34, mouthed "I'm sorry" to his victim's two sisters before fatal chemicals were pumped into his veins in South Carolina. One of the sisters nodded in response. It appeared that a tear rolled down Humphries' cheek after the exchange. His death came about 16 hours after North Carolina executed Kenneth Lee Boyd, the 1,000th person to receive capital punishment since 1977, a year after the Supreme Court ruled that it could resume. Boyd, who gunned down his estranged wife and father-in-law, did not want the numerical distinction. But Humphries' attorney said he had told her "he would rather be 1,000 because if he has to die, No. 1,000 will be remembered. No. 1,001 won't." Humphries was convicted for the shooting death of Mendal Alton "Dickie" Smith on New Year's Day 1994. Prosecutors said Humphries and a friend decided to rob the Simpsonville store where Smith was working after they drank beer all day. Humphries' attorney Teresa Norris read a handwritten statement from the death chamber in which Humphries apologized for the killing and criticized the death penalty. "We are all sinners, so what gives you the right as a sinner to take away a gift that God gave," the statement said in part. Boyd's execution drew global attention because of its symbolism. It helped spur renewed debate over U.S. capital punishment and came on a day that executions in Singapore and Saudi Arabia also sparked international concerns. "God bless everybody in here," Boyd said in his last words to witnesses from the death chamber at Central Prison in North Carolina's state capital, Raleigh. Boyd, who was 57, was a Vietnam War veteran with a history of alcohol abuse. He was executed for killing his wife and father-in-law in 1988, in front of two of his children. "This 1,000th execution is a milestone, a milestone we should all be ashamed of," his lawyer Thomas Maher said. With polls showing that a declining majority of the American public backs the death penalty, the White House reiterated President Bush's support. "The president strongly supports the death penalty because he believes ultimately it helps save innocent lives," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. Bush is a former governor of Texas, which has accounted for 355 of the 1,000 executions more than three times as many as any other state. Sheriff Sam Page of Rockingham County, which prosecuted Boyd, defended the execution. "Tonight justice has been served," he said, and he urged people to pray for the murder victims. Thirty-eight of the 50 U.S. states and the federal government permit capital punishment, and only China, Iran and Vietnam held more executions in 2004 than the United States, according to rights group Amnesty International. A Gallup Poll in October showed 64 percent of Americans favored the death penalty the lowest level in 27 years and down from a high of 80 percent in 1994. Shawn Humphries was put to death about 16 hours later in South Carolina for the 1994 murder of a store clerk, becoming the 1,001st person executed in the United States. Humphries, 34, mouthed, "I'm sorry" to his victim's two sisters before the lethal injection. One of the sister nodded in response. It appeared that a tear rolled down Humphries' cheek after the exchange. Humphries was convicted for the shooting death of Mendal Alton "Dickie" Smith on New Year's Day 1994. Prosecutors said Humphries and a friend decided to rob the store where Smith was working after they drank beer all day. The Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that capital punishment could resume after a 10-year moratorium. The first execution took place the following year, when Gary Gilmore went before a firing squad in Utah. -- Associated Press