Mississippi

Mississippi is set to execute the state’s longest-serving death row inmate

Published

8 months ago

June 25, 2025

Mississippi is set to execute the state’s longest-serving death row inmate

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s longest-serving death row inmate is set to be executed Wednesday nearly five decades after he kidnapped and killed a bank loan officer’s wife in a violent ransom scheme.

Richard Gerald Jordan, a 79-year-old Vietnam veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. He is one of several people on Mississippi’s death row suing the state over its three-drug execution protocol, which they claim is inhumane.

Jordan has several last-minute appeals still pending before the Supreme Court.

Jordan would be the third person executed in the state in the last 10 years; the most recent execution was in December 2022.

His execution comes a day after a man was executed in Florida in what is shaping up to be a year with the most executions since 2015.

Jordan was sentenced to death in 1976 for killing and kidnapping Edwina Marter, a mother of two young children, earlier that year. As of the beginning of the year, Jordan is one of 22 people across the country sentenced for crimes in the 1970s who are still on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Eric Marter, who was 11 when his mother was killed, said neither he, his brother, nor his father will attend the execution, but other family members are expected to be there.

“It should have happened a long time ago,” he said of the execution. “I’m not really interested in giving him the benefit of the doubt.”

Mississippi Supreme Court records show that in January 1976, Jordan called the Gulf National Bank in Gulfport, Mississippi, and asked to speak with a loan officer. After he was told Charles Marter could speak to him, he hung up. He then looked up the Marters’ home address in a telephone book and kidnapped Edwina Marter. According to court records, Jordan took her to a forest and shot her to death before calling her husband, claiming she was safe and demanding $25,000.

“He needs to be punished,” Eric Marter said.

The execution would end Jordan’s decades-long court process that included four trials and numerous appeals. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a petition that claimed he was denied due process rights.

“He was never given what, for a long time, the law has entitled him to, which is a mental health professional that is independent of the prosecution and can assist his defense,” said lawyer Krissy Nobile, the director of Mississippi’s Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, who represents Jordan. “Because of that, his jury never got to hear about his Vietnam experiences.”

A recent petition asking Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves for clemency echoed Nobile’s claim. It argued Jordan developed PTSD after serving three back-to-back tours in the Vietnam War, which could have been a factor in his crime. Reeves denied the request.

“His war service, his war trauma, was considered not relevant in his murder trial,” said Franklin Rosenblatt, the president of the National Institute of Military Justice, who wrote the petition on Jordan’s behalf. “We just know so much more than we did 10 years ago, and certainly during Vietnam, about the effect of war trauma on the brain and how that affects ongoing behaviors.”

Eric Marter said he doesn’t buy that argument.

“I know what he did. He wanted money, and he couldn’t take her with him. And he — so he did what he did,” he said.

Source link

Click to comment

Mississippi

Gas prices on Mississippi Gulf Coast jump nearly 60 cents in one day

Published

1 hour ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Gas prices on Mississippi Gulf Coast jump nearly 60 cents in one day

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) — Gas prices along the Mississippi Gulf Coast have jumped to nearly $3 a gallon, up from $2.41 just two days ago, according to AAA.

AAA said the increase is driven by two factors: the U.S.-Iran conflict, which has shut down a key Middle East oil route and prompted attacks on refineries, and a seasonal fuel blend switch that adds up to 15 cents a gallon on its own.

Uber Eats driver James Adams said he noticed the increase immediately.

“It actually jumped like 50 to 60 cents in one day,” Adams said.

Adams said the higher cost to fill his tank cuts directly into his delivery earnings.

“We’re working basically for pennies on the dollar already — and once you factor that in with traffic and the mileage you have to go — the gas is outrageous,” Adams said.

DoorDash driver Daniel Yelle said the spike will strain his weekly budget.

“I fill up about twice a week going to and from work and DoorDash — and that’s going to hurt my budget,” Yelle said.

FedEx driver Cecil Banks said there is little that workers can do about the rise in prices.

“As long as there is wars — the price of gas is going to go up for everybody — so it’s just an unfortunate situation,” Banks said.

Banks noted that even though Mississippi’s prices remain below the national average, not driving is not an option for working families.

“What can you do? A lot of people have families — they have to go get their kids — they have to go back and forth to work,” Banks said.

Yelle echoed that sentiment.

“They don’t pay us enough for the higher gas prices,” Yelle said.

See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE.

Source link

Mississippi

It’s 2,350 miles long, spans 31 US states and is home to a 100kg animal with a tongue that looks like a worm | Discover Wildlife

Published

13 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

It’s 2,350 miles long, spans 31 US states and is home to a 100kg animal with a tongue that looks like a worm | Discover Wildlife

The Mississippi River flows for around 2,350 miles through the heart of the US. It drains an area of 1.2 million square miles – that’s roughly 40% of the country – and at certain points is 11 miles wide. It is North America’s second longest river, behind the Missouri River.

Rising from Lake Itasca in Minnesota, the Mississippi winds southwards through a range of environments, draining water from 31 US states before reaching its delta at the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana.

The sheer size of the river and the diversity of habitats it passes through make it a refuge for a huge range of animal species, including more than 260 fish, 326 birds, 50 mammals and at least 145 amphibians and reptiles, according to the National Park Service.

The Mississippi River flows from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: Rainer Lesniewski/Getty Images

There are many weird and wonderful animals living within the Mississippi’s vast waters, but surely one of the strangest is the alligator snapping turtle.

This prehistoric-looking reptile is massive. It can weigh up to 100kg and males can grow well over half a metre long, making it the largest freshwater turtle in North America.

And as if its size wasn’t enough, the alligator snapper has a host of other characteristics that make it one of the Mississippi’s most striking creatures, including a dark, spiky shell (known as carapace), a brick-like head and a sharp, hooked beak. With such a formidable appearance, it’s easy to see how the turtle got its ‘alligator’ name.

But perhaps the turtle’s most curious feature is a worm-like appendage found on its tongue, which it uses as a lure to catch prey, such as fish, amphibians and invertebrates. Alligator snappers are also quite happy scavenging for food.

More amazing wildlife stories from around the world

Source link

Mississippi

Mississippi House of Representatives passes bill to make NIL earnings non-taxable

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Mississippi House of Representatives passes bill to make NIL earnings non-taxable

NIL money comes with a price. More specifically, a tax bill.

The Mississippi legislature is trying to reduce that burden for college athletes who play there.

Via Bea Anhuci of the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, the Mississippi House of Representatives has passed a bill that would exempt NIL earnings from state income tax.

It’s a recruiting tool for Ole Miss and Mississippi State, one that would put the Mississippi schools on equal footing with other states that host SEC universities. Florida, Tennessee, and Texas have no state income tax, and Arkansas carved out NIL earnings from the state’s income tax burden in 2025.

Mississippi currently charges a four-percent tax on anyone making more than $10,000 per year.

NIL earnings remain subject to federal income tax.

The bill will have to also pass the Mississippi Senate, and the governor would then be required to sign it into law.

Source link