The Vatican has joined a growing list of those asking that a Georgia man be spared the death penalty.
Troy Anthony Davis was to have been executed earlier this week for the 1989 murder of a Savannah police officer.
In a letter to Georgia's Governor Sonny Perdue, the Washington office of the Vatican has asked that Davis' sentence be commuted to life behind bars.
The letter sent on behalf of Pope Benedict the Sixteenth, called Davis' pending execution "disturbing".
Since his conviction, several witnesses who testified against Davis at trial have recanted their testimony.
Meanwhile, Davis has been granted a 90-day stay of execution while defense attorneys examine evidence that Savannah police may have intimidated witnesses.
Troy Anthony Davis was to have been executed earlier this week for the 1989 murder of a Savannah police officer.
In a letter to Georgia's Governor Sonny Perdue, the Washington office of the Vatican has asked that Davis' sentence be commuted to life behind bars.
The letter sent on behalf of Pope Benedict the Sixteenth, called Davis' pending execution "disturbing".
Since his conviction, several witnesses who testified against Davis at trial have recanted their testimony.
Meanwhile, Davis has been granted a 90-day stay of execution while defense attorneys examine evidence that Savannah police may have intimidated witnesses.
