JAMES HARVEY CALLAHAN EXECUTED THURSDAY
Marc Summers

01-16-2009

http://www.weis990am.com/np79099.htm

James Harvey Callahan, who had been on death row for almost 26 years, was executed Thursday for the 1982 kidnapping, rape and murder of a Jacksonville woman. The 62 year old Callahan died at 6:24pm, by lethal injection, at Holman Prison for the murder of Rebecca Suzanne Howell, a 26 year old Jacksonville State University student. Earlier that afternoon Callahan`s plea to the Supreme Court was rejected, clearing the way for his execution. Approximately one year ago, the high court granted a reprieve only an hour before his scheduled execution. This time the justices rejected the motion about two hours before the lethal injection. Callahan was twice convicted for the slaying of Howell, who had been abducted from a coin-operated laundry. According to trial records, Callahan locked the woman in his home and raped her, and she later died from suffocation. Her body, which was thrown from a bridge, was found weeks later in a creek, her hands bound together with duct tape. Calhoun County District Attorney Joseph Hubbard stated on Thursday that Callahan gave authorities a number of stories about his involvement. Hubbard added that he never saw any remorse from Callahan.