Murderer who raped and killed girl, nine, is executed by lethal injection more than 20 years on as victim's mother watches pressed 'right up to the glass'

Moeller given injection at 10.01pm last night at South Dakota penitentiary

When asked if he had final words, he said: 'No, sir. They're my fan club?'

Becky's mother, Tina Curl, said she wanted to watch his death 'up close'

Husband Dave Curl: 'Death of this so-called man will not give us closure'

Moeller kidnapped Becky as she went to buy sugar from store in 1990



More than 20 years after raping and murdering a nine-year-old girl, Donald Moeller was put to death as the victim's mother watched on.

Before being given a lethal injection at a South Dakota penitentiary, Moeller, 60, was asked if he had any last words.

‘No sir,’ he said, then added: ‘They’re my fan club?’

Condemned: Donald Moeller (left) was killed by lethal injection for the crime of raping and murdering nine-year-old Becky O'Connell (right) in 1990

He was given the injection at 10.01pm. and took eight, heavy, final breaths. His eyes stayed open as his skin took on a pink hue before darkening to purple.

A coroner checked him for vital signs and pronounced him dead at 10.24pm.

His victim, Becky O’Connell, had gone to buy sugar from a convenience store to make lemonade when Moeller kidnapped her in 1990.

He drove her to a secluded area near the Big Sioux river, raped her and slashed her throat. Her naked body was found the next day.

No closure: Becky's mother, Tina Curl (right), holds up pictures of her daughter as friend Wendy Wilson looks on after watching Moeller's execution on Tuesday

Full of hate: David Curl (right) told reporters that he despises that 'so-called man'

Becky’s mother Tina Curl did everything from selling belongings to holding fundraisers to get money for the 1,400-mile trip from her home in New York to Sioux Falls so she could witness the execution.

Curl was so eager to see her killer executed last night that she couldn't even take her seat in the witness room.

'I was right up to the glass,' she said. 'I wanted to see it up close.'

Leona Wieland, 65, of Sioux Falls (centre) lights candles with Sister Janice Klein (left) and Mary Ann Garrigan outside of the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls

Skin turned purple: Moeller was pronounced dead at 10.24pm on Tuesday after being given a lethal injection at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls (above) After Moeller was pronounced dead, she showed pictures of Becky at nine alongside an artist's rendering of what her daughter would look like today at age 32. ‘We despise that so-called man,’ said her husband, Dave Curl. ‘The death of Donald Moeller is not going to give us closure.’ Moeller was convicted in 1992, but the state Supreme Court overturned the decision ruling improper evidence was used in the trial. He was convicted in a second trial and sentenced to die in 1997.

Determined: Curl (pictured with her daughter) did everything from throwing fundraisers to selling possessions to raise the money for the 1,400 mile trip to see Moeller die

Savage attack: Authorities say the little girl was lured by Moeller into his truck before driving her to a wooded area near the Iowa state line, raping her, stabbing her, and leaving her to bleed to death

Start to finish: Becky's mother, pictured, raised money last month after she was unable to afford the 1,400-mile road trip from her home in New York to South Dakota to witness the execution

The state Supreme Court affirmed the second sentence and Moeller lost subsequent appeals at the state and federal levels.

Despite fighting the sentence for years, Moeller said in July he was ready to die and admitted for the first time in court that he murdered Becky.

‘I killed,’ he said. ‘I deserve to be killed.’

Predator: Moeller, pictured in court, was a felon with a history of assaults living nearby the family when he attacked the girl, later fleeing immediately after an interview with police

Crime's impact: Moeller's death sentence in 1992 was the first handed down in South Dakota in 45 years

He even protested against further motions filed on his behalf to stop the execution.

Earlier this month, a federal judge dismissed a pending suit challenging South Dakota’s execution protocol when Moeller refused to go along with it.

A woman loosely related to him also filed a motion on his behalf arguing that his decades in solitary confinement made him incapable of voluntarily accepting his fate, but he again distanced himself from the proceeding and the motion was dismissed Monday.

'I am competent,' he told reporters earlier this month.



'I know what is happening. I don't want to drag this through the courts anymore. It's been judged. Let's do it.'

Moeller is the second man in two weeks to be executed in South Dakota after the October 15 execution of Eric Robert for killing state prison guards Ronald ‘RJ’ Johnson during a failed escape attempt.

Prior to 2012, the last South Dakota execution was in 2007 when the state administered lethal injection to Elijah Page for the murder of Chester Allan Poage, who he’d abducted and killed in a plot to rob his mother’s home.