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Thomas Harrison Provenzano (June 6, 1949 – June 21, 2000) was a convicted murderer executed by means of lethal injection by the state of Florida. Provenzano believed he was Jesus Christ and also compared his execution with Christ's crucifixion. Provenzano was sentenced to death for a shooting〔(Defendant opens fire in courtroom, kills 1 )〕 at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Florida in 1984 that killed 60-year-old bailiff William Arnie Wilkerson. Another bailiff, 53-year-old Harry Dalton, suffered brain damage and was partially paralyzed, dying from his injuries 7 years later. Provenzano also shot correctional officer Mark Parker, 19, who was hit in the spine and ended up being paralyzed from the neck down. Parker eventually died in March 2009 due to complications from his injuries. In 1999, the state of Florida heard a petition from Provenzano that argued that the electric chair was a cruel and unusual punishment. During the proceedings, Michael Minerva, who had witnessed Jerry White's execution, said that "White's body stiffened and was thrust upward and backward to the back of the electric chair" after the current had been switched on to the chair. He also said that he heard air moving through White's lips and throat, though he could not tell whether the air was going in or out. But even after the execution by electric chair of Allen Lee Davis had caused many irregularities, the constitutionality of the electric chair remained upheld. However, by the time the inmate following Davis was to be executed, Florida inmates sentenced to death could choose between lethal injection and the electric chair. Everyone executed in Florida following Davis thus far () has chosen lethal injection. Provenzano was originally scheduled to be the second person executed in Florida's newly built electric chair on Wednesday July 14, 1999, but the execution was stayed following the gruesome death of Allen Lee Davis (supra) just six days before the scheduled July 14, 1999 execution date on Thursday, July 8, 1999. Provenzano’s eventual execution was carried out using a lethal injection protocol subsequently adopted by the Florida state legislature. 〔http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/070999/met_2a1Execu.html#.VclNJGzbL4j〕 Provenzano had spent almost 16 years on death row before being executed at Florida State Prison in Starke on June 21, 2000. He was the 48th murderer executed in Florida since that state's reintroduction of the death penalty in 1976. ==See also== * List of individuals executed in Florida * Capital punishment in the United States * List of people who have claimed to be Jesus 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thomas Harrison Provenzano」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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