On February 29, Arizona is sched­uled to exe­cute Robert Moorman, who was sen­tenced to death for a 1984 mur­der. Moorman’s rep­re­sen­ta­tives have said the crime was com­mit­ted after years of sex­u­al abuse by the defendant’s adop­tive moth­er, whom he then killed and dis­mem­bered her body. Moorman was diag­nosed with men­tal retar­da­tion and attend­ed spe­cial edu­ca­tion class­es while in pub­lic school. His first stay at a men­tal insti­tu­tion occurred when he was 13. At a recent clemen­cy hear­ing, Moorman said he did not remem­ber the details of the mur­der. His health has slow­ly dete­ri­o­rat­ed while in prison. He had a stroke in 2007 and under­went a quin­tu­ple bypass last November. Moorman was born to a 15-year-old girl who drank heav­i­ly and engaged in pros­ti­tu­tion, accord­ing to court records and tes­ti­mo­ny at his clemen­cy hear­ing. His father aban­doned him and his moth­er died at age 17. He then went to live with his mater­nal grand­par­ents until he was put up for adop­tion because of his grandfather’s alco­hol abuse. UPDATE: Moorman was exe­cut­ed on Feb. 29.

(M. Kiefer, ​“Execution to con­clude shock­ing Arizona mur­der case,” Arizona Republic News, February 26, 2012). See Intellectual Disability and Mental Illness.

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