[quote]Never really got the death penalty, why would we want to do a favour for the convicted?[/quote] Not sure if I understand your logic as calling death a "favor" is like saying her killer did her a favor by killing her, no? Her killer took away her future and robbed her loved ones from sharing in her future. Should he be executed, it won't be a mercy.

The killer can spend the rest of his life in a cell and maybe get beaten or ráped or he can be put out of his misery so he doesn't need to deal with all of that.