PARCHMAN - Tracy Alan Hansen went to his death quietly, apologizing to the family of the state trooper he murdered in 1987 and decrying his execution by the state.
Death, by lethal injection, came to Hansen at 6:32 p.m. Wednesday. His execution was the first in the state by injection and the first since 1989.
Hansen spent 15 years on death row. He was sentenced in 1987 for shooting to death State Trooper Bruce Ladner along Interstate 10. Ladner had pulled over the car for speeding.
Hansen's execution was witnessed by media, the trooper's family, law enforcement officers, and a handful of lawyers and ministers requested by the condemned man.
"I know a lot of you don't believe it … I am a good man," Hansen said in rambling final statement. "I am at peace. I don't feel any anger."
Clad in his prison garb, a red jumpsuit and black flip-flops, Hansen apologized to the Ladner family, saying he never meant to kill the state trooper. He said he believes Ladner panicked and he panicked.
"I didn't set out to kill him," Hansen said. "I'm sorry. I know sorry doesn't help but it is in my heart. I don't mind dying if it gives you closure."
After his statement, Hansen closed his eyes and 10 minutes later he was dead.
Hansen said he found it "bizarre" that the state was going to such lengths to execute him.
"I'm opposed to capital punishment," Hansen said. "I find it bizarre that 40 to 50 people are trying to kill me … people who believe it must be legal."
Less than two hours before the execution, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal by Hansen to stop the proceedings.
The family of the slain trooper arrived at the prison in the late afternoon Wednesday by bus. While three of them viewed the execution, none stayed to talk with reporters after Hansen died.
Herman Cox, a coast attorney speaking for the Ladner family, said they were glad the execution had taken place and was over.
"I hope that God will have mercy on Tracy Hansen's soul," Cox said. "This was a case that justified and totally warranted the death penalty."
Hansen was already strapped to the leather gurney when curtains opened for witnesses to view the execution.
His attorneys, Charles Press and Debra Sabah, sobbed openly in one witness room, while in the other, the trooper's two sons and brother watched silently. The uncle, Kirk Ladner, patted the two sons on the back when Hansen was pronounced dead.
Department of Corrections officials, who had locked down the prison a day earlier, said Hansen was talkative and appeared "anxious." They said he did not ask anything about the execution.
The body was taken away about 30 minutes after the execution for cremation in Memphis.
Hansen made more than three dozen phone calls Tuesday and Wednesday to various people, including his father, Lawrence, in Orlando, Fla.
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who Tuesday denied clemency to Hansen, said Wednesday in a statement that there are other death penalty cases awaiting resolution in the courts.
"The appeals process is a fundamental part of the judicial system - but the process must be carried out expeditiously," Musgrove said. "Fifteen years is too long for the families of the victims and the state of Mississippi to wait for justice to be served."
Hansen was joined in the execution room by two chaplains, two medical personnel and Parchman Superintendent Emmitt Sparkman. He talked with those in the room while waiting for witnesses to arrive. He waved at his attorneys with a left hand wrapped a gauze to help hold the IVs in place. At one point, he smiled at some exchange with those in the room.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
