With Daryl Holton's execution only 32 hours away, interest in Tennessee's first electrocution since 1960 is peaking. Media outlets across the state, the nation, and around the world are reporting on what happens when someone that is clearly incompetent for trial decides to be executed by an old method.

Kid's killer ready to die, chooses the chair
Device's builder: Death Wednesday to be near 'torture'
by Sheila Burke, The Tennessean

...However, Fred Leuchter, the man who built the chair in 1989, has asked Gov. Phil Bredesen not to use it, saying it's been modified in such a way that it will be "tantamount to torture.'' "It's going to be the most horrible way to die possible," said Leuchter, of Malden, Mass. He worries the modified chair will take far too long to kill Holton. But the state is willing to comply with Holton's request...

Taking the Guilt Out of the Death Penalty
by Dan Barry, New York Times
(unfortunately, you will need Times select to read the article, sorry)

...Was he punishing his ex-wife for obtaining an order of protection against him, as the state suggests? Or, as his defenders argue, was he depressed and temporarily insane, reasoning that his children were better off dead than to be raised by a mother with a history of alcoholism and abandonment? Wouldn't you have to be mentally ill to kill your own children? Now, after all the motions filed in his behalf, often against his will and without his participation, and after the years of speculation about why he did what he did and does what he does, Daryl Keith Holton, 45, of sound body and court-determined competence -- a supporter of the death penalty, by the way -- is scheduled to be killed by the State of Tennessee on Wednesday morning, one o'clock...

However, I just found the Dan Barry column from The Age in Melbourne Australia. Read the article HERE.

Holton Scheduled to Die Wednesday
by Clint Confehr, Shelbyville Times-Gazette
(Shelbyville is Daryl Holton's hometown)

...The Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing opposes execution "as people of faith and human beings," the coalition's leader, Rector, said. "Killing a human being is not an appropriate or necessary thing to do and we should speak out about it." Asked about actions that prolong such circumstances, Rector said, "Our hearts go out to those who have suffered from his crime, but taking Daryl Holton's life does nothing to help them in the process of grieving ... It only adds to the suffering..."

Vigil to Protest Death Penalty
by Wendy Isom, The Jackson Sun

...Jesus said "thou shalt not kill," and that's what he meant, said Patsy Turner, a devout Catholic who opposes the death penalty. "He didn't say, 'thou shalt not kill, except ...,'" said Turner, who will be among the attendees at a candlelight vigil to protest the death penalty Tuesday night at Jackson's Conger Park, on the eve of the scheduled execution of Daryl Holton. Turner and other members of the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing are trying to build support for a state moratorium against the death penalty...

Also, for those that live in Nashville, tune in to Fox at 9 p.m. to see a story on Holton.