Charles Rhines
Charles Russell Rhines was executed by lethal injection at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls on the evening of November 4, 2019, according to SDPB. The execution was delayed about six hours while the U.S. Supreme Court considered his final appeals, which it denied. Protesters gathered outside and prayed, and a death penalty opponent said he had spoken with Rhines that week and found him nervous but determined to keep fighting for his life. Rhines spoke calmly with media witnesses, forgave the family who had sought his execution, and thanked his legal team. His appeals argued that the jury was prejudiced against him as a gay man, and another account says he spent more than two decades in a segregated mesh cage with one hour of recreation a day, passing his time with beadwork, crossword puzzles and books.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. Rhines's appeals argued the jury was prejudiced against him as a gay man, an objection to the execution rather than the cause of death.
Reported by: State of South Dakota (the agency that held him). The only account of how this person died comes from the agency that held him.