Virginia governor calls off execution for death-row inmate
RICHMOND, Va. — A man sentenced to death in a 2006 murder-for-hire case won a reprieve Thursday when Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe commuted his sentence to life without parole, citing concerns about false information that he believes influenced the jury’s sentencing decision.
Ivan Teleguz was scheduled to be executed Tuesday, but McAuliffe commuted his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
It’s the first execution that the Democratic governor has stopped since taking office. McAuliffe is a Catholic who has said he’s personally opposed to capital punishment, but will uphold the law as governor.
Teleguz was convicted in 2006 of hiring a man to kill 20-year-old Stephanie Sipe, the mother of his child. Sipe was stabbed to death in her Harrisonburg apartment. Sipe’s mother found her body two days later, along with their 2-year-old son, who was unharmed.