South Dakota State Penitentiary inmate Rodney Berget is scheduled for execution Monday (Oct. 29, 2018) afternoon (1:30pm CDT).
Director of Prison Operations and Penitentiary Warden Darin Young released the information today (Fri.).
Berget is one of two inmates convicted in the 2011 killing of guard Ronald Johnson during a failed escape attempt at the state prison in Sioux Falls. The other inmate, Eric Robert was executed by lethal injection in 2012.
The inmates beat Johnson with a pipe and wrapped his head in plastic.
The 56-year-old Berget was serving a life sentence for attempted murder and kidnapping at the time of the escape attempt. He appealed his death sentence at first but later dropped the effort, saying he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
By law in South Dakota, the exact date and time of the execution is left to the warden’s discretion, but must be publicly announced not less than 48 hours prior to the execution.
