<ul class="summary-list"><li>Oklahoma executed Benjamin Cole on Thursday.</li><li>Cole's attorneys claimed that he was schizophrenic, suffered from brain damage, and was not competent for execution.</li></ul>Oklahoma <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/20/us/benjamin-cole-oklahoma-execution/index.html">executed</a> death row inmate Benjamin Cole on Thursday despite his attorneys' claim that executing him would be a <a href="https://www.insider.com/three-drug-lethal-injection-protocol-death-row-inmates-oklahoma-2022-3">constitutional violation</a>."Benjamin Cole was a person with serious mental illness whose schizophrenia and brain damage went undiagnosed and untreated for many years, eventually leading to the tragic crime for which he was executed. Over his years on death row, Ben slipped into a world of delusion and darkness," attorney Tom Hird said in an email to Insider on Thursday.Fifty-seven-year-old Cole was sentenced to death for the 2002 murder of his 9-month-old daughter, Brianna. According to his attorneys, who tried to stay his execution, he was schizophrenic, suffered from brain damage, and was not competent for execution.Cole's legal team called on the United States Supreme Court to intervene on Monday, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-oklahoma-executions-fc2ecc8a2c01ac80174cbdeb67ef6226">which they denied on Wednesday</a>. And on Tuesday, they filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma imploring the court to compel a competency hearing for Cole.In a failed petition submitted to the Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Parole in September, <a href="https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/lawyers-for-mentally-ill-oklahoma-death-row-prisoner-seek-clemency-competency-trial">Cole's lawyers asserted</a> that "Benjamin Cole today is a frail, 57-year-old man with a damaged and deteriorating brain, suffering from progressive and severe mental illness who poses no threat to anyone in any way."The Board voted against recommending Cole for clemency to Gov. Kevin Stitt.Months prior to the vote, in a two-hour-long July evaluation, one psychologist found that Cole had "a rational understanding of the reason he is being executed by the State of Oklahoma." During the evaluation, Cole called himself "a super-duper hyperbolic Jesus freak" that hoped to return "to my Father in Heaven," <a href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2022/10/06/benjamin-cole-oklahoma-death-row-inmate-competent-execution/69542420007/">the Oklahoman</a> wrote.Based on that examination, a judge ruled on October 4 that Cole was competent to be executed based on a psychological examination in July.In the ruling, Judge Mike Hogan said Cole's legal team did not establish the "substantial threshold showing of insanity" needed in order to go to trial for a jury to determine Cole's competency — and fate.Cole's defense attorneys argued contrary to the July examination and offered opposing evidence, leading Hogan to assert that both the prosecutors and defense team had "conflicting" claims. "Benjamin Cole is incapacitated by his mental illness to the point of being essentially nonfunctional," Hird told Insider."His own attorneys have not been able to have a meaningful interaction with him for years, and the staff who interact with him in the prison every day confirm that he cannot communicate or take care of his most basic hygiene. He simply does not have a rational understanding of why Oklahoma seeks to execute him," he added.In a 193-page case for Cole's clemency, his attorneys painted the picture that Cole was doomed from the start. Cole's mother drank and used drugs during her pregnancy with him, subsequently bringing him into a home located in a junkyard where incestual relationships, substance abuse, and physical abuse were the norm. The clemency petition details Cole's "extreme religious delusions," including seeing himself as "David in Psalm 51" and the belief that discussing his past was like his past was "like putting Jesus on the cross again and again which is like doubting your own forgiveness."Cole's clemency petition also included details that he was wheelchair-bound, often catatonic, and, at times, refused to leave his cell or communicate with others.Dr. David George Hough, a psychologist who evaluated Cole in 2016, said Cole "presents as a classic example of a severely regressed chronic schizophrenic patient (with catatonic features), whose condition is likely further compromised by the previously detected brain disorder captured by neuroimaging studies," <a href="https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/lawyers-for-mentally-ill-oklahoma-death-row-prisoner-seek-clemency-competency-trial">the Death Penalty Information Center reported</a>. He is the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/death-row-inmate-connections-addiction-abuse-criminal-justice-system-2022-8?_ga=2.144769972.1687313834.1665596978-650691432.1655502498">second inmate in Oklahoma to die</a> during a spree of executions aiming to clear out more than half of the state's death row population. Oklahoma's executions, carried out by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/execution-lethal-injection-humane-experts-pain-death-row-unconstitutional-2022-2?_ga=2.144769972.1687313834.1665596978-650691432.1655502498">the controversial lethal injection process</a>, have seen <a href="https://www.insider.com/three-drug-lethal-injection-protocol-death-row-inmates-oklahoma-2022-3">increased scrutiny</a> in recent years since the botched executions of <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/06/execution-clayton-lockett/392069/">Clayton Lockett in 2014</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-supreme-court-executions-oklahoma-05c84265d553c784eb862321aed2acb8">Charles Warner in 2015</a>."It is unconscionable that the State denied Ben a competency trial. Ben lacked a rational understanding of why Oklahoma took his life today," Hird said after Cole's execution in a statement to Insider. "As Oklahoma proceeds with its relentless march to execute one mentally ill, traumatized man after another, we should pause to ask whether this is really who we are, and who we want to be."

Oklahoma continues execution spree with inmate who attorneys argued was insane and 'essentially nonfunctional'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A judge granted a stay on Wade Lay's execution pending a decision on his mental competency.</li><li>Lay believes his execution is a "government conspiracy aimed at silencing him," his attorney said. </li></ul>A Pittsburgh County judge ordered the state of <keyword id="11910055" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oklahoma" source="Orion">Oklahoma</keyword> on Monday to stay the execution of a <keyword id="12087640" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="death-row" source="Orion">death row</keyword> inmate until a trial determines his mental competency, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RuhNmTD74to60i8tJlRDlciY0LNoCARA/view">according to the stay order</a>.Wade Greely Lay and his son were convicted of first-degree murder and attempted robbery with a firearm for the killing of Kenneth Anderson, a security guard, during an armed robbery of a Tulsa bank in 2004, <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ok-court-of-criminal-appeals/1217982.html">according to court documents</a>. They both pleaded guilty during their 2005 trial but argued that the robbery was necessary because "the government had become tyrannical, and they needed funds from the bank to start a patriotic revolution as was done by the Founding Fathers," <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-10th-circuit/1865832.html">per court documents</a>. Lay's son, Chris, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Wade Greely Lay received a death sentence.But, on Monday Pittsburgh County District Court Associate District Judge Tim Mills found "good reason to believe" that Lay is not "presently competent to be executed" — exactly a month before his scheduled execution."Wade Lay believes he is being executed as part of a vast government conspiracy aimed at silencing him," Sarah Jernigan, attorney for Wade Lay, said in an emailed statement provided to Insider on Monday.Psychologist Dr. Richart DeMier <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/oklahoma-judge-stays-jan-execution-competency-hearing-81593599">agreed in September</a>, and diagnosed Lay with <keyword id="12080038" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="schizophrenia" source="Orion">schizophrenia</keyword>, <a href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/12/03/oklahoma-death-row-execution-dates-wade-greely-lay-kenneth-anderson/8842223002/">according to The Oklahoman.</a>"The court correctly found sufficient concern about his competency to warrant a trial, and ensured that he will not be executed while incompetent by granting a stay until the trial can be conducted," she added.The court also found that Warden Jim Farris "abused his discretion in failing to refer the matter for competency proceedings," which Lay's attorneys argue made it impossible for competency proceedings to take place prior to his execution, scheduled for January 6, 2022. The stay order will remain in place until further notice from the Court. The state of Oklahoma restarted executions following a series of botched executions in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/30/botched-oklahoma-execution-reignites-death-penalty-debate/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2">2014</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/10/08/oklahoma-may-have-used-the-wrong-drug-to-execute-an-inmate-this-year/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2">2015</a> — forcing the state to pause for six years, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/us/oklahoma-executions.html">according to The New York Times</a>. Oklahoma Attorney General <a href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/local/oklahoma-city/2021/08/26/oklahoma-seeks-execution-dates-julius-jones-james-allen-coddington-donald-grant-death-row-inmates/5605376001/">John O'Connor sought dates in August</a> for seven men to be executed.John Grant was the first. He convulsed and vomited during his 12-minute execution by lethal injection, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/29/john-marion-grant-oklahoma-execution/">according to The Washington Post</a>. Gov. Kevin Stitt ordered the commutation of Julius Jones on November 18, just hours before his scheduled execution, as the evidence of his conviction was questioned by community members and the Pardon and Parole board.<a href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/10/26/oklahoma-execution-dates-john-grant-julius-jones-bigler-stouffer-gilbert-postelle-murder-case/6138369001/">Five more people</a> are scheduled for execution by the state of Oklahoma, including Donald Grant — an inmate who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and suffered from brain damage — who the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency to in November, <a href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/11/30/donald-a-grant-oklahoma-denied-clemency/8810395002/">according to The Oklahoman</a>. Grant's execution is scheduled for January 27.The Oklahoma attorney general, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, and Stitt's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Judge orders stay of execution of Oklahoma death row prisoner with schizophrenia

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Gov. Kevin Stitt has denied James Coddington's request for his life to be spared.</li><li>Oklahoma has a long history of botched lethal injections.</li></ul>Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma has denied clemency for death row inmate James Coddington — who is the first of 25 death row inmates scheduled to die in the state.Coddington, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/death-row-inmate-connections-addiction-abuse-criminal-justice-system-2022-8">convicted by a jury of first-degree murder for killing a coworker in 1997</a>, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday at 10 a.m. On Wednesday, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/24/us/oklahoma-death-row-james-coddington/index.html">Stitt decided</a> to go forward with the execution, undeterred by a recommendation from the Pardon and Parole board to reduce Coddington's sentence to life without parole.Stitt's decision to move forward with Coddington's execution now marks the beginning of a spree of similar sentences. By July 1, 25 of <a href="https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/oklahoma-court-schedules-25-executions-between-august-2022-and-december-2024">43 inmates</a> were <a href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2022/07/01/oklahoma-appeals-court-sets-25-executions-through-end-2024/7772590001/?gnt-cfr=1">slated for execution</a> over the next two years — <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/20/us/oklahoma-botched-executions-history/index.html">about one per month</a>. Stitt's refusal to reduce his sentence has some feeling unsettled about the upcoming executions. An organizer against the death penalty said he fears that Stitt's denial of the Parole board's clemency recommendation for Coddington indicates a reluctance to save other inmates from being executed over the next two years."I can only infer that Stitt believes that clemency has no place for death-row inmates," Rev. Don Heath of Oklahoma's Coalition Against the Death Penalty told Insider in a statement."Coddington is a changed man. He has been a model prisoner for 15 years. He has repeatedly acknowledged his crime and expressed remorse for killing Albert Hale. This is the strongest case that can be made for clemency."The coalition has scheduled rallies in front of the Governor's Mansion and in front of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary on Thursday at 9 a.m. The demonstrations will be followed by a 10 a.m. silent vigil in honor of Coddington. "I am afraid that the Pardon and Parole Board hearings will be moot exercises. Stitt has made it clear he will not grant clemency. He has a hard heart," Heath continued."While we are profoundly disheartened by this decision, we appreciate the pardons board's careful consideration of James Coddington's life and case. The Board's clemency recommendation acknowledged James's sincere remorse and meaningful transformation during his years on death row," Coddington's attorney Emma Rolls told Insider in a statement. "James is loved by many people and he has touched the hearts of many. He is a good man," Rolls added.Oklahoma has resisted a nationwide trend of curtailing execution rates despite <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/execution-lethal-injection-humane-experts-pain-death-row-unconstitutional-2022-2">its history of botched lethal injections</a> — including Clayton Lockett in 2014 and Charles Warner in 2015.While the lethal injection protocol is highly controversial and has been likened to the feeling of suffocating, drowning, or being set on fire, Judge Stephen Friot <a href="https://www.insider.com/three-drug-lethal-injection-protocol-death-row-inmates-oklahoma-2022-3">ruled the process constitutional</a> in June. Stitt's decision highlights concern among anti-death penalty advocates that the punishment is not reserved for the "<a href="https://www.aclu.org/other/case-against-death-penalty">worst of the worst.</a>" He did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.Coddington's case highlights the connections between addiction, abuse, and the criminal justice system."I'm clean, I know God, I'm not ... I'm not a vicious murderer," Coddington told the Parole board in early August, prior to its clemency recommendation. "If this ends today with my death sentence, OK."

Oklahoma's governor begins a 2-year judicial killing spree by rejecting clemency for state's death row inmate James Coddington

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A <keyword id="52532" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="south-carolina">South Carolina</keyword> court blocked two executions, saying the men must get the choice of a firing squad.</li><li>Brad Sigmon and Freddie Owens were due to be executed by the electric chair this week.</li><li>The ruling comes amid a lethal-injection shortage and the state's revised capital-punishment law.</li></ul>A top court in South Carolina blocked <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ceos-cant-ignore-the-death-penalty-the-public-expect-us-to-take-stands-2021-5">two planned executions</a> by electric chair this month, saying the two men could not be put to death until they had the choice of a firing squad.The ruling was made under the state's newly revised capital-punishment law, which says the condemned must choose between <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doj-looking-to-bring-back-firing-squads-electrocutions-for-executions-2020-11">electrocution or firing squad</a> if lethal injections are not available.Brad Sigmon, who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend's parents with a baseball bat in 2002, was supposed to be killed on the state's 109-year-old electric chair named "Old Sparky" on Friday, <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/death-row-duo-brad-sigmon-freddie-owens-choose-firing-squad-old-sparky-south-carolina-nff8twvtb">The Times reported</a>.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-last-minute-death-penalty-killing-spree-shows-barbarism-2021-1">OPINION: At end of his term, Trump on a death-penalty killing spree</a>The planned electric-chair execution of another man on death row, Freddie Owens, was set for June 25. Owens was convicted of murdering a convenience-store worker in 1997 and confessed at his sentencing to killing another prisoner.South Carolina recently restarted executions after an involuntary 10-year pause that the state attributed to an inability to obtain the lethal drugs needed for them.It now forces people on death row to choose between electrocution or firing squad if the drugs are unavailable.<img src="https://i.insider.com/60cf52b1db3f80001848cdc8?format=jpeg" alt="South Carolina’s electric chair" height="2677" width="3569" />"The department is moving ahead with creating policies and procedures for a firing squad," Chrysti Shain, a representative for the South Carolina Department of Corrections, said in a statement, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/17/south-carolina-court-blocks-executions-saying-inmates-must-have-choice-of-firing-squad">according to The Guardian</a>."We are looking to other states for guidance through this process. We will notify the court when a firing squad becomes an option for executions."Attorneys for both men had said death by electrocution was cruel and the men should have the right to die by lethal injection. But the state's lawyers are saying prison officials are simply carrying out the law.Prison campaigners say Sigmon is terrified at the prospect of being electrocuted. Alli Sullivan, a member of the anti-death-penalty group <keyword id="6384243" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="death-penalty">Death Penalty</keyword> Action who recently spoke with him, said in a Facebook post: He "doesn't know if [he] can get the horror out of [his] mind of being fried to death," The Times reported.South Carolina is among eight states, including Mississippi and Oklahoma, that still use the electric chair in executions, <a href="https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/">according to the Death Penalty Information Center</a>. Three other states allow death by firing squad.Thirty-seven people are awaiting the death penalty in South Carolina, which saw its most recent execution in 2011.

Death-row duo get to choose between the 109-year-old electric chair known as 'Old Sparky' or a firing-squad execution in South Carolina

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The infamous Unabomber Ted Kaczynski has died at age 81.</li><li>He ran a 17-year bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others.</li></ul>WASHINGTON (AP) — Theodore "Ted" Kaczynski, the Harvard-educated mathematician who retreated to a dingy shack in the Montana wilderness and ran a 17-year bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others, died Saturday. He was 81.Branded the "Unabomber" by the FBI, Kaczynski died at the federal prison medical center in Butner, North Carolina, Kristie Breshears, a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Prisons, told The Associated Press. He was found unresponsive in his cell early Saturday morning and was pronounced dead around 8 a.m., she said. A cause of death was not immediately known.Before his transfer to the prison medical facility, he had been held in the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, since May 1998, when he was sentenced to four life sentences plus 30 years for a campaign of terror that set universities nationwide on edge. He admitted to committing 16 bombings from 1978 and 1995, permanently maiming several of his victims.Years before the Sept. 11 attacks and the anthrax mailing, the "Unabomber's" deadly homemade bombs changed the way Americans mailed packages and boarded airplanes, even virtually shutting down air travel on the West Coast in July 1995.He forced The Washington Post, in conjunction with The New York Times, to make the agonizing decision in September 1995 to publish his 35,000-word manifesto, "Industrial Society and Its Future," which claimed modern society and technology was leading to a sense of powerlessness and alienation.But it led to his undoing. Kaczynski's brother David and David's wife, Linda Patrik, recognized the treatise's tone and tipped off the FBI, which had been searching for the "Unabomber" for years in nation's longest, costliest manhunt.Authorities in April 1996 found him in a 10-by-14-foot (3-by-4-meter) plywood and tarpaper cabin outside Lincoln, Montana, that was filled with journals, a coded diary, explosive ingredients and two completed bombs.As an elusive criminal mastermind, the Unabomber won his share of sympathizers and comparisons to Daniel Boone, Edward Abbey and Henry David Thoreau.But once revealed as a wild-eyed hermit with long hair and beard who weathered Montana winters in a one-room shack, Kaczynski struck many as more of a pathetic loner than romantic anti-hero.Even in his own journals, Kaczynski came across as not a committed revolutionary, but a vengeful hermit driven by petty grievances."I certainly don't claim to be an altruist or to be acting for the 'good' (whatever that is) of the human race," he wrote on April 6, 1971. "I act merely from a desire for revenge."A psychiatrist who interviewed Kaczynski in prison diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic."Mr. Kaczynski's delusions are mostly persecutory in nature," Sally Johnson wrote in a 47-page report. "The central themes involve his belief that he is being maligned and harassed by family members and modern society."Kaczynski hated the idea of being viewed as mentally ill and when his lawyers attempted to present an insanity defense, he tried to fire them. When that failed, he tried to hang himself with his underwear.Kaczynski eventually pleaded guilty rather than let his defense team proceed with an insanity defense."I'm confident that I'm sane," Kaczynski told Time magazine in 1999. "I don't get delusions and so forth."He was certainly brilliant.Kaczynski skipped two grades to attend Harvard at age 16 and had published papers in prestigious mathematics journals. His explosives were carefully tested and came in meticulously handcrafted wooden boxes sanded to remove possible fingerprints. Later bombs bore the signature "FC" for "Freedom Club."The FBI called him the "Unabomber" because his early targets seemed to be universities and airlines. An altitude-triggered bomb he mailed in 1979 went off as planned aboard an American Airlines flight; a dozen people aboard suffered from smoke inhalation.Kaczynski killed computer rental store owner Hugh Scrutton, advertising executive Thomas Mosser and timber industry lobbyist Gilbert Murray. California geneticist Charles Epstein and Yale University computer expert David Gelernter were maimed by bombs two days apart in June 1993.Mosser was killed in his North Caldwell, New Jersey, home on Dec. 10, 1994, a day he was supposed to be picking out a Christmas tree with his family. His wife, Susan, found him grievously wounded by a barrage of razor blades, pipes and nails."He was moaning very softly," she said at Kaczynski's 1998 sentencing. "The fingers on his right hand were dangling. I held his left hand. I told him help was coming. I told him I loved him."When Kaczynski stepped up his bombs and letters to newspapers and scientists in 1995, experts speculated the "Unabomber" was jealous of the attention being paid to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.A threat to blow up a plane out of Los Angeles before the end of the July Fourth weekend threw air travel and mail delivery into chaos. The "Unabomber" later claimed it was a "prank."The Washington Post printed the "Unabomber's" manifesto at the urging of federal authorities, after the bomber said he would desist from terrorism if a national publication published his treatise.Patrik had had a disturbing feeling about her brother-in-law even before seeing the manifesto and eventually persuaded her husband to read a copy at the library. After two months of arguments, they took some of Ted Kaczynski's letters to Patrik's childhood friend Susan Swanson, a private investigator in Chicago.Swanson in turn passed them along to former FBI behavior science expert Clint Van Zandt, whose analysts said whoever wrote them had also probably written the "Unabomber's" manifesto."It was a nightmare," David Kaczynski, who as a child had idolized his older brother, said in a 2005 speech at Bennington College. "I was literally thinking, 'My brother's a serial killer, the most wanted man in America.'"Swanson turned to a corporate lawyer friend, Anthony Bisceglie, who contacted the FBI.David Kaczynski wanted his role kept confidential, but his identity quickly leaked out and Ted Kaczynski vowed never to forgive his younger sibling. He ignored his letters, turned his back on him at court hearings and described David Kaczynski in a 1999 book draft as a "Judas Iscariot (who) ... doesn't even have enough courage to go hang himself."Ted Kaczynski was born May 22, 1942, in Chicago, the son of second-generation Polish Catholics — a sausage-maker and a homemaker. He played the trombone in the school band, collected coins and skipped the sixth and 11th grades.His high school classmates thought him odd, particularly after he showed a school wrestler how to make a mini-bomb that detonated during chemistry class.Harvard classmates recalled him as a lonely, thin boy with poor personal hygiene and a room that smelled of spoiled milk, rotting food and foot powder.After graduate studies at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, he got a job teaching math at the University of California at Berkeley but found the work difficult and quit abruptly. In 1971, he bought a 1½-acre parcel about 4 miles (6 kilometers) outside of Lincoln and built a cabin there without heating, plumbing or electricity.He learned to garden, hunt, make tools and sew, living on a few hundred dollars a year.He left his cabin in Montana in the late 1970s to work at a foam rubber products manufacturer outside Chicago with his father and brother. But when a female supervisor dumped him after two dates, he began posting insulting limericks about her and wouldn't stop.His brother fired him and Ted Kaczynski soon returned to the wilderness to continue plotting his vengeful killing spree.___Balsamo reported from Miami. This story includes biographical material written by former Associated Press writer Derek Rose.

Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, was found dead in his prison cell

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5bca1fea3762f631de2163c6-2000/ap18282822532361.jpg" border="0" alt="marijuana" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Ted S. Warren" data-mce-caption="In this Sept. 25, 2018 photo, a worker holds a marijuana plant leaf in a massive tomato greenhouse being renovated to grow pot in Delta, British Columbia." />AP Photo/Ted S. WarrenDealmaking in the nascent marijuana sector is hitting a fever pitch.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>iAnthus, a publicly-traded firm that operates <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/marijuana">marijuana</a> dispensaries in a number of US states, acquired Toronto-based MPX Bioceutical in a $640 million stock transaction.</li><li>The acquisition nearly doubles the firm's footprint as cannabis retailers compete for scale in the burgeoning sector.</li><li>Earlier in October, MedMen, another cannabis retailer, scooped up PharmaCann in a $682 million acquisition.</li><li>"We're more like frenemies than enemies," iAnthus CEO Hadley Ford told Business Insider in an interview. </li></ul>IAnthus, a publicly-traded firm that operates cannabis <keyword id="6354851" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="retail">retail</keyword> facilities in the US and Canada, acquired MPX Bioceutical, a Toronto-based cannabis company, in a $640 million stock transaction.It's the first public-to-public acquisition in US cannabis history, according to a press release. The mega-acquisition comes on the heels of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-retailer-medmen-acquires-pharmacann-for-682-million-2018-10">MedMen's $682 million acquisition of PharmaCann</a>. iAnthus and MedMen are two of the biggest retail players in the industry - and these back-to-back acquisitions are no coincidence. Cannabis companies have been on a dealmaking tear in recent weeks as retailers in the sector race to carve out their share of the market as more US states weigh legalization <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/canada-legal-marijuana-sales-start-on-october-17-2018-10">following Canada's move to legalize marijuana nationwide</a>."There are three key factors to this," iAnthus CEO Hadley Ford said in an interview with Business Insider. "The first is expanding our footprint, the second is national scale, and the third piece is great people."The acquisition nearly doubles the firm's US footprint and gives iAnthus access to licenses in 10 US states - including valuable East Coast markets like New York, Florida, and Massachusetts - permitting iAnthus to operate 56 retail locations and 14 cultivation facilities.<h2>'We're more like frenemies than enemies'</h2>MedMen, in comparison, has a combined portfolio of 79 cannabis licenses across 12 states, including 66 retail stores and 13 cultivation licenses, following the retailer's PharmaCann acquisition. "MedMen's done a good job," Ford said. "We're more like frenemies than enemies. We'll be good competitors - the sector is so nascent."Ford added that the recent mergers-and-acquisitions spree in the cannabis sector will probably leave only eight to 10 companies standing when things shake out. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b92dd1204f16238008b5ab3-2000/2018-03-19t152410z466894366rc1816ace670rtrmadp3austria-medical-cannabis.jpg" border="0" alt="cannabis" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger" data-mce-caption="An employee cuts cannabis plants in a laboratory at the headquarters of AGES agency in Vienna, Austria March 15, 2018." />REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerAn employee cuts cannabis plants in a laboratory at the headquarters of AGES agency in Vienna, Austria March 15, 2018.</div></div></div>"The nascent U.S. cannabis market is still in a land-grab phase, and we feel that our footprint when combined with iAnthus, provides our investors with the strongest possible exposure to this explosive marketplace," Scott Boyes, Chief Executive Officer of MPX, said in the press release. As part of the merger, iAnthus will develop new brand names for its stores and products. <h2>Cannabis is a 'strange business'</h2>Ford, a Goldman Sachs veteran and former healthcare entrepreneur, said cannabis is a "strange business" because it's considered an illegal, Schedule I drug by the federal government even though it's legal in some form in 30 states and Canada. The US federal government doesn't allow cannabis to be shipped across state lines, so iAnthus is forced to set up individual supply and processing chains in each state."You have to make sure you can replicate your product," Ford said. "It's not like making Cheerios in Oklahoma and then shipping them across the border," he said. "The product has to look the same, taste the same, and be consistent everywhere we operate. Everything has to be identical."Ford said he looks for states like New York - which allows medical marijuana under a restrictive regime - that limit the number of dispensary licenses they hand out. That limits competition and helps iAnthus dominate the market. He said his experience in building out and operating cancer treatment centers as the former CEO of ProCure Treatment Centers is what sets his management team apart.<h2>Hiring 'great people' is a huge challenge in the cannabis industry </h2>Ford hopes to scale iAnthus quickly - he wants to add between 600 and 800 people over the next 12 months - and says <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-jobs-aurora-tilray-canopy-hiring-sprees-2018-10">hiring will be one of his firm's biggest challenges</a> in the months ahead."The thing that keeps me up most at night, besides putting this deal together, is finding good, professional, and serious people," he said.A year ago, Ford said, he couldn't get mid-level or senior execs at big companies to take a serious look the cannabis industry."Now you can," Ford said. "I'm not sure it makes it easier to bring them aboard, but once you start having discussions, you have better end results."Overall, Ford said he's "very excited to get up every day and make our shareholder's rich."<h3>Read more of Business Insider's cannabis industry coverage:</h3><ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-marijuana-vc-firms-by-deal-count-2018-10">The top 12 venture-capital firms making deals in the booming cannabis industry that's set to skyrocket to $75 billion</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/medmen-ceo-talks-about-whats-next-biggest-cannabis-company-in-us-2018-10">The CEO of the biggest cannabis company in the US reveals what's next following a $682 million acquisition</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hedge-fund-billionaire-leon-cooperman-investing-in-marijuana-2018-8?r=teaser">Hedge fund legend Leon Cooperman is investing in the marijuana industry - and it's another sign the sector is heating up</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-left-of-citron-creating-a-cannabis-hedge-fund-2018-9?r=teaser">Famous short seller Andrew Left is creating a cannabis fund. He explains why the market's not in a bubble, but does need to 'chill out'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-jobs-aurora-tilray-canopy-hiring-sprees-2018-10">Some of the hottest companies in the booming cannabis sector are going on hiring sprees as Canada's legal marijuana market opens</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-retailer-medmens-ceo-says-private-equity-is-coming-for-pot-2018-10">The CEO of the largest cannabis company in the US says giant private equity firms could be his biggest competition - here's his playbook for defending against them</a></li></ul> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oysters-still-alive-eaten-raw-vibrio-vulnificus-2018-9">Why do we eat oysters alive?</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/jthGtISY-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

A competitor is emerging to challenge the marijuana retail chain dominating the industry, and it just closed a $640 million acquisition

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/596fdc9c552be550008b5601-1179/nerlens noel.jpg" alt="nerlens noel" data-mce-source="Tony Gutierrez/AP" />Tony Gutierrez/APNerlens Noel is one NBA player dealing with the new, tighter cap environment.</div></div></div>The NBA is in the midst of seeing another dramatic result of a decision the NBA players union made two years ago.In 2015, on the verge of a gigantic salary-cap spike as a result of a new TV deal, <a href="http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/12461874/players-union-rejects-salary-cap-smoothing-historic-cap-increase-nba-set">the National Basketball Players Association rejected a proposal from by the NBA to "smooth" the cap</a> increase over several years.The impending jump moved the NBA salary cap from about $70 million in 2015-16 to $94 million in 2016-17, creating an influx of salary-cap space for nearly all teams.Already we've seen unintended effects from this decision, like the Golden State Warriors, through a mix of timing and luck, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-warriors-built-their-team-2017-6">had the cap space to sign Kevin Durant outright</a>. Some have already wondered if both the NBA and players union regret the decision, as it's created a juggernaut that seems primed to dominate for the foreseeable future.Now, the decision is having another effect - the calming of free agency.Last summer, primed with cap space, NBA teams went on spending sprees, inking players to massive deals. The NBA believed that in 2017-18, the cap would continue to spike, projected at $107 million, with some believing it might go as high as $110 million.However, toward the end of the '16-17 season, the NBA lowered those estimates to $101 million, and then before free agency, to $99 million. Suddenly, teams that believed they'd have cap space saw that space shrink with the lowered salary cap.This can't be the effect the players were intending. <a href="http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19874801/zach-lowe-nba-free-agency-winners-losers">As ESPN's Zach Lowe wrote</a>, almost everyone outside of the 2016 free-agent class has lost out."Last summer, almost the entire league had an easy route to $20 million-plus in cap room. Next summer, we could enter free agency with only three or four teams hoarding that much space. Last summer's spending orgy, amid a one-time-only mega-spike in the cap, soaked up more of this season's space than anyone expected......"The failure of the union and league to agree on a cap-smoothing proposal benefited one group of free agents - last summer's class - at the expense of almost everyone else. We are now back in the old, forgotten cap environment, where room is sparse."Lowe pointed to Patrick Patterson as an example. In 2016, Patterson's Toronto Raptors teammate Bismack Biyombo, a reserve center, signed a four-year, $70 million contract with the Orlando Magic. This summer, Patterson, a power forward who can hit threes and defend multiple positions, signed a three-year, $17 million deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder.It's also having an effect on several current restricted free agents (Tim Hardaway Jr., his $71 million contract, and the New York Knicks aside). Teams are almost done throwing big offers at restricted free agents to lure them away from their teams or force those teams to match, clogging up their cap space.Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a 24-year-old athletic, two-way wing, had his qualifying offer rescinded by the Detroit Pistons late in free agency, making him an unrestricted free agent. However, the market had already dried up. Caldwell-Pope signed a one-year, $18 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers - a hefty deal, but also a one-year gamble. Injuries or a down year could suppress Caldwell-Pope's market when he becomes a free agent again next summer.Nerlens Noel, a 23-year-old, athletic, rim-protecting center, was believed by many to be in line for a max contract this summer. Instead, Noel remains unsigned. Teams aren't ponying up money to lure him from the Dallas Mavericks, and the Mavericks, as a result, are in no rush to pay Noel the max if the market for one isn't there.Lowe pointed to another future example - Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics. The Celtics have been on a deadline to use their assets and acquire some stars because in 2018, much of their core, including Thomas, will become free agents.However, with cap space now drying up, Lowe reported the Celtics believe they can retain Thomas for less than the max in 2018. After all, few teams will have cap space to sign Thomas to a max, and of those that will, who will want to offer a 5-foot-9 guard a $30-million per year contract, despite his scoring prowess?Michele Roberts, the executive director of the NBPA, argued in 2015 that smoothing the cap would have "artificially deflated" the cap. <a href="http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/12461874/players-union-rejects-salary-cap-smoothing-historic-cap-increase-nba-set">Roberts said</a> the players believed their salaries wouldn't increase as much as they would without smoothing, which "killed it in the eyes of the economists that made the recommendations, and it killed it in the eyes of the players.".The effect is evident, however. Last year, 19 deals worth over $70 million were handed out. This year, there have been seven. Those numbers are slightly noisy, as some teams still handed out big contracts worth $50 and $60 million, and others have been short-term contracts worth a lot of money. Regardless, teams have taken their feet off the gas.The players union could not have seen some of this coming. When they turned down the cap-smoothing proposal, it was believed there would be two giant cap spikes. At least two free agent classes would benefit.Now there has only been one, and one class got a giant bite of the pie, while many other players are left to sift through a more familiar cap environment in the NBA. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/conor-mcgregor-floyd-mayweather-faced-off-press-conference-la-boxing-fight-2017-7">Conor McGregor wore a suit, squared up to Floyd Mayweather, and told him he would knock him out 'inside four rounds'</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="90M3Z2YjE6HNu0xCsqav4cOQzuRDjFOh" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '90M3Z2YjE6HNu0xCsqav4cOQzuRDjFOh',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

You Searched For "oklahoma execution spree" and got 7 results

Oklahoma continues execution spree with inmate who attorneys argued was insane and 'essentially nonfunctional'

Taiyler Simone Mitchell

Judge orders stay of execution of Oklahoma death row prisoner with schizophrenia

Taiyler Simone Mitchell

Oklahoma's governor begins a 2-year judicial killing spree by rejecting clemency for state's death row inmate James Coddington

Taiyler Simone Mitchell

Death-row duo get to choose between the 109-year-old electric chair known as 'Old Sparky' or a firing-squad execution in South Carolina

Sophia Ankel

Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, was found dead in his prison cell

Michael Belsamo, Associated Press

A competitor is emerging to challenge the marijuana retail chain dominating the industry, and it just closed a $640 million acquisition

Jeremy Berke

A fateful decision by the NBA players union 2 years ago is now coming back to haunt the players themselves

Scott Davis