Percy Levar Walton

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Percy Levar Walton is a black American from Virginia who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1997 for the November 1996 murders of Elizabeth and Jessee Hendrick, aged 81 and 80, and Archie Moore, aged 33, in Danville, Virginia.

He was scheduled to be executed on 8 June 2006, but the governor of Virginia, Timothy Kaine, stayed the execution one hour before it was due to take place and has ordered a mental examination of the convict to determine if he is fit for execution or not. It has been reported that Walton has an IQ of just 66.

Governor Kaine stated that it would be immoral to either execute or pardon Walton without further investigations, and ordered that the court will evaluate the results of the examinations and, if applicable, set a new execution date on 9 December 2006.

Kaine's decision has sparked criticism from his political opponents, who during the recent election campaigns claimed that he was soft on crime and unwilling to make use of the death penalty.

His inmates on death row report him as being "nuttier than a fruitcake."