PHOENIX — Convicted killer Richard Djerf died by lethal injection on Friday morning as the death penalty was carried out in Arizona for the second time this year.

Djerf, 55, was executed by a pentobarbital injection at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence. The time of death was 10:40 a.m., officials said.

When asked if he had any last words, Djerf replied, “I do not,” according to officials.

In a statement after the execution, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said cases like Djerf’s are why the state uses the death penalty.

“There are some crimes so unspeakable, so devoid of humanity, that justice demands the ultimate punishment. This is that case. Richard Djerf is a prime example of why the death penalty exists. What this man did in 1993, torturing and murdering nearly

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