August 10, 2004

Little Rock, AR (AP) - Governor Huckabee today set a September 28th execution date for a man convicted of killing a woman at a "hobo camp" in Crawford County. Ricky Dale Newman was convicted in the 2001 stabbing of 46-year-old Marie Elaine Cholette.

Police found her body under a makeshift tent at the camp near Van Buren. Newman had waived his appeals and told a judge that he wanted to die. Attorney General Mike Beebe asked Huckabee last week to set an execution date.

Newman attempted to plead guilty at his arraignment, but the judge rejected the plea and ordered a trial. The state Supreme Court upheld the conviction and sentence last year. A police report said Newman told authorities he had multiple personalities, but a state hospital report said Newman did not suffer from any mental disease or defect.