Kansas killer to be among first 5 federal inmates executed
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas man who raped, killed and dismembered a 16-year-old girl and beat an 80-year-old woman to death is among the first five federal death-row inmates scheduled for execution when the federal government resumes executions.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday announced it planned to resume execution of federal inmates for the first time since 2003.
Wesley Ira Purkey is scheduled to be executed Dec. 13.
The Kansas City Star reports that Purkey, of Lansing, killed Jennifer Long in January 1998 after picking her up in Kansas City, Missouri. He dumped her dismembered and burned body in a septic pond in Clearwater, Kansas.
Nine months later, Purkey beat Mary Ruth Bales to death in her Kansas City, Kansas, home.
He was sentenced to death for Long’s killing.