Virginia set to execute 2001 killer of couple; he chooses electric chair over lethal injection

Virginia set to electrocute 2001 killer of couple

RICHMOND, Va. — A death row inmate is scheduled to be executed by electric chair for killing a northern Virginia couple in 2001.

Sixty-year-old Larry Bill Elliott is scheduled to be executed at 9 p.m. Tuesday for the shooting deaths of 25-year-old Dana Thrall and 30-year-old Robert Finch.

Prosecutors say Elliott killed the couple to win the love of former stripper and escort Rebecca Gragg, who was involved in a custody dispute with Finch.

Virginia also uses lethal injection, but since 1995 convicts have been able to choose whether to use the old method of electrocution. Only four of the 80 inmates executed since then have chosen the electric chair.

The U.S. Supreme Court and Gov. Tim Kaine have refused to block the execution.