Arizona Executes Leroy Dean McGill in Murder Case for Gasoline Fire

An Arizona prisoner convicted of murder for dousing a man with gasoline and setting him on fire was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday. Leroy Dean McGill, 63, was pronounced dead at 10:26 a.m. PT at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence, corrections officials said. His execution was the first of three scheduled in different states this week.

McGill received the death penalty for the July 13, 2002, killing of Charles Perez. Authorities said McGill threw gasoline and a lit match at Perez and his girlfriend, Nova Banta, as they sat on a sofa in a north Phoenix apartment. The attack occurred after Perez and Banta had accused McGill of stealing a gun from the apartment. At the time, McGill was using methamphetamine and had not slept in several days, according to authorities.

Banta survived the attack but suffered third-degree burns over three-quarters of her body. Perez died later at a hospital after what prosecutors described as extreme pain. At trial, Banta testified that McGill told them not to talk behind people's backs before lighting them on fire. A jury deliberated for less than an hour before convicting McGill of murder in October 2004. He was also convicted of...