In a \ud835\udcc8\ud835\udcbd\ud835\udcf8\ud835\udcb8\ud835\udcc0\ud835\udcbe\ud835\udcc3\ud835\udc54 defiance of international law, Walter LaGrand was executed by gas chamber in Arizona on March 3, 1999, becoming the last person put to death this way in the United States. Despite a last-minute order from the International Court of Justice to halt it, the procedure proceeded amid global outrage and desperate appeals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LaGrand\u2019s story traces back to a troubled childhood in postwar Germany, where he and brother Carl were raised amid instability. Born to a young mother and adopted by an American soldier, they moved to the U.S. in 1967, facing \ud835\udcea\ud835\udceb\ud835\udcfe\ud835\udcfc\ud835\udcee and bullying that pushed them into crime early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By their teens, the brothers had racked up arrests for theft and arson, culminating in a brutal 1982 bank robbery in Marana, Arizona. They targeted Valley National Bank, kidnapping manager Kenneth Hartsock and teller Dawn Lopez in a desperate bid for cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attack turned deadly when LaGrand stabbed Hartsock 24 times and Lopez 14 times, leaving her for dead. Lopez survived, crawling to call 911, her testimony sealing the brothers\u2019 fate in a 1984 trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Convicted of first-degree murder and other charges, both were sentenced to death, igniting years of appeals that reached the U.S. Supreme Court and beyond. Their German citizenship, overlooked during arrest, became a flashpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n