Prison officials patrol around the US Penitentiary at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, US. Reuters

Gulf Today Report

The Trump administration on Friday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden — an opponent of the federal death penalty.

A media witness said that was the final federal execution under Trump’s administration, just days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office with a promise to try to end the death penalty.

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Dustin Higgs, convicted in the killings of three women in a Maryland wildlife refuge in 1996, was the third to receive a lethal injection this week at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Higgs, 48, was pronounced dead at 1:23 a.m. In his final statement, Higgs was calm but defiant, mentioning the victims by name.

"I’d like to say I am an innocent man,” he said. "I did not order the murders.”