Florida man becomes 3rd executed in US in 24 hours

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Starke, Fla. • Florida has executed a man who fatally stabbed his wife and her young son in 1985.

It is the third U.S. execution in less than 24 hours since a botched April lethal injection in Oklahoma.

The governor's office says John Ruthell Henry was pronounced dead at 7:43 p.m. Wednesday.

The 63-year-old was convicted and sentenced to death for fatally stabbing his wife, Suzanne Henry.

Just before his execution, Henry asked for forgiveness and apologized for what he'd done.

He also was convicted of fatally stabbing Suzanne Henry's 5-year-old son hours after the woman's murder.

Henry previously had pleaded no contest to second-degree murder for stabbing his common-law wife, Patricia Roddy, in 1976. He served less than eight years and was released in 1983.

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down a last-second appeal.