Michael F. Easley
Governor

Theodis Beck
Secretary

North Carolina Department of Correction

RALEIGH - Correction Secretary Theodis Beck has set December 10, 2002 as the execution date for death row inmate Desmond Keith Carter. The execution is scheduled for 2 a.m. at Central Prison in Raleigh.

Carter, 35, was sentenced to death on July 5, 1993 in Rockingham County Superior Court for the March 1992 murder of his elderly neighbor, Helen Purdy of Eden, N.C.  Carter also received a sentence of 40 years for robbery with a dangerous weapon.

A media tour is scheduled at Central Prison on Monday, Dec. 2. Interested media representatives should arrive at Central Prison’s visitor center promptly at 10 a.m. on the tour date. Warden R.C. Lee will explain the execution procedures. The session will last approximately one hour. This will be the only opportunity to photograph the execution chamber and death watch area before the execution.

Journalists who plan to attend the tour should contact the Department of Correction Public Information Office at 919-716-3700.

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ATTENTION EDITORS: For more information about the death penalty, including selection of execution witnesses, visit the Department of Correction web site at www.doc.state.nc.us and click the link "The Death Penalty." Digital photos of death row inmates are available by clicking on the inmate’s DOC number on the list of offenders on death row.