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First U.S. Fentanyl Execution Scheduled in Nebraska

Authorities in Nebraska plan Tuesday morning to use the powerful opioid fentanyl to carry out a death sentence, an unprecedented move that comes as the state is preparing to resume executions for the first time in nearly a generation.

By Mark Berman

Authorities in Nebraska plan Tuesday morning to use the powerful opioid fentanyl to carry out a death sentence, an unprecedented move that comes as the state is preparing to resume executions for the first time in nearly a generation.

Nebraska is expecting a series of firsts Tuesday morning: the state’s first execution in 21 years, its first lethal injection and the country’s first death sentence carried out with fentanyl. Adding to the unusual situation, the state is just three years removed from its legislature briefly abolishing the death penalty, followed by voters overturning that decision the following year and reinstating capital punishment.

At the center of this is Carey Dean Moore, a 60-year-old inmate who has been on death row for more than half his life. Moore was sentenced to death for killing two Omaha cabdrivers in 1979. He has said he does not intend to stop his execution or want anyone else to intervene, to his lawyer’s evident chagrin.

Barring a last-minute turnabout, Nebraska plans to execute Moore at 10 a.m. local time at the state penitentiary in Lincoln, the capital.

Moore’s case has wound its way through the court system for nearly four decades, ever since the August 1979 slayings of Reuel Van Ness and Maynard Helgeland, both taxi drivers and Korean War veterans. Relatives of the men have said they are ready for an outcome in the case.

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