Colorado: No. 77

In Denver, demonstrators with black arm bands protesting capital punishment formed a silent procession in front of the Statehouse, while in Canon City a similarly grim tableau formed alongside the walls of the Colorado State Prison. Inside, Luis Jose Monge calmly prepared to die for the brutal murder in 1963 of his wife and three of his ten children. Resisting a nationwide trend against capital punishment (TIME, April 21), Colorado voters last November voted 2 to 1 to retain the death penalty, and the state was about to execute its 77th prisoner.

Monge, for his part, was calm enough. When...

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