Richard Jordan (MDOC)In spite of being sentenced to death in 1976, 79-year-old Richard Jordan was executed 49 years later on Wednesday night after what, to some, has been a full lifetime.
Jordan was executed by lethal injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary and pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections carried out the order of the Mississippi Supreme Court issued on May 1, 2025. The execution occurred after almost half a century of appeals from Jordan’s attorneys, including to the Fifth Circuit Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, were denied.
MDOC Commissioner Burl Cain said Jordan had his last meal with his family and MDOC officials earlier Wednesday, and expressed remorse for his crimes.
Once the initial drugs were administered, a prison official checked to make sure he was certainly asleep before the lethal dose was given.
Jordan was sentenced to death four times in Jackson County Circuit Court for the kidnapping and murder of Edwina Marter, 35, in Gulfport, Miss. Jordan was first sentenced in 1976, followed by 1977, 1983, and 1998.
Marter, a married mother of two, was home with her three-year-old son when Jordan, posing as an electrical repairman, kidnapped her at gunpoint on January 13, 1976.
For decades, the Attorney General’s Office has pressed for justice for the Marter family, filing dozens of briefs in state and federal courts, including three at the US Supreme Court just this week. We are pleased to be able to bring closure to Mrs. Marter’s family and friends…
— Lynn Fitch (@LynnFitchAG) June 25, 2025
Marter’s family spoke through a spokesman who made a statement.
“Nothing could ever change what Jordan took from us 49 years ago. Jordan tried desperately to change his ruling so he could simply die in prison. We never had an option. He took Edwina’s life and never thought about the people who loved her and relied on her.”
The spokesman talked about. Marter’s children and how they could have benefitted from having a mother. The family called Wednesday “a day of celebration for justice.”
“She had to suffer while he drug her around and knew she probably wouldn’t live through it. Why should he get to live in prison and die of natural causes?” the family said. “We feel like he should have to endure the suffering of knowing his death is only hours away just like Edwina had to endure.
At the heart of Jordan’s legal arguments against his execution was his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Jordan kidnapped Marter and demanded $25,000. When it didn’t come fast enough, he shot her in the back of the head.
“Like other veterans, Vietnam forever changed Richard” said his petition for clemency.
Jordan served three combat tours as a helicopter gunner. He was honorably discharged.
“Our condolences to the Jordan family, as his selfish mistake has affected their lives as well,” they said.
Jordan was the state’s longest-serving and oldest death row inmate when executed.
