Richard Jordan, 79, was executed in Mississippi for the 1976 kidnapping and murder of Edwina De Gruy Marter.

Jordan spent 48 years on death row, the longest in Mississippi history.

Marter’s family released statements expressing relief and sadness, emphasizing the long-awaited closure but lack of healing.

Jordan’s legal team’s efforts to commute his sentence to life in prison were unsuccessful.

The execution was Mississippi’s first since 2022 and the 25th in the U.S. this year.

PARCHMAN, Miss. — Edwina De Gruy Marter’s family released two statements Wednesday after Richard Jordan’s execution — one from Marter’s husband and sons, the other from her extended De Gruy relatives.

Jordan, 79, was executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. He was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. His death marked the state’s first execution since 2022 and the 25th in the U.S. so far this year.

Marter was kidnapped from her Gulfport home nearly five decades ago and later murdered by Jordan, who confessed to killing her as part of a botched ransom plot. He was sentenced to death in 1977 and spent 48 years on Mississippi’s death row — longer than any inmate in state history.

‘Why should he get to die in prison?’

Both statements were read aloud by family spokesperson and Marter’s nephew, Keith De Gruy. The first was on behalf of Marter’s husband, Charles, and her sons, Eric and Kevin. In a previous interview with the Hattiesburg American, Eric, said the family would not be attending Jordan’s execution.

“Nothing will bring back our mom, sister, aunt and friend,” De Gruy said in the first statement. “Nothing will ever change what Jordan took from us 49 years ago.”

The statement emphasized that while Jordan’s legal team had fought for years to convert his sentence to life in prison, Marter’s family never had a choice in their loss. It also noted that Jordan’s death brought long-awaited closure, but no healing.

“Jordan tried desperately to change his ruling so he can simply die in prison,” De Gruy said. “We never had an option. He took Edwina’s life, never thought about the many people who loved her and relied on her. He took her away from us never thinking about us.”

Marter’s sons, 10 and 3-years-old at the time of the murder, are now in their 50s.

“They still have lives they would love to share with Edwina and have her here to be a part of,” De Gruy said. “They will never have that option. Jordan took from them and he didn’t deserve an option either. Although they may forgive him, it doesn’t change what they missed for 49 years.”

The family said Jordan should have faced the same kind of fear and finality that Edwina did in her last hours.

“She had to suffer while he drug her around but knew she probably wouldn’t live through it,” De Gruy said. “Why should he get to live in prison and die of natural causes? We feel that he should have to endure the suffering of knowing his death was only hours away just like Edwina had to endure.”

A ‘day of justice and sadness’

In a second statement, the extended De Gruy family expressed both relief and sorrow. They acknowledged the toll Jordan’s actions had taken across generations — and even extended condolences to Jordan’s own family.

“This is a day of celebration for justice and a day of sadness for all involved. Jordan changed the lives of our family the day he took her to murder her for money,” De Gruy said. “His selfish actions affected so many. Our condolence to the Jordan family as his selfish mistake affect their lives as well.”

“Yet today is not about Jordan, it’s about Edwina Marter and justice being served. Edwina had a life much like a lot of us here,” he continued.

De Gruy described Edwina as a beloved mother, sister, aunt and friend.

“She was loved and needed,” De Gruy said, pausing and appearing emotional as he read the line. “Her story ended the day Jordan made the decision to take her life.”

Several of Marter’s siblings never lived to see Jordan’s execution, De Gruy noted. Among them were Mary Agnes De Gruy and Florence De Gruy, who had long waited for the case to be resolved.

“They and the rest of our family have been missing her for 49 years,” he said.

‘Calculated, horrific, disgusting’

Jordan’s death came after a flurry of legal appeals in recent weeks — all denied. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review his case. On Tuesday, Gov. Tate Reeves rejected his clemency request. By Wednesday, all avenues had been exhausted.

His attorneys had argued that Jordan, a Vietnam War veteran who had shown good behavior in prison, should be allowed to die of natural causes behind bars. But the De Gruy family rejected any suggestion that his service or time served should reduce his accountability.

“Jordan’s service to this country or any good he has done in prison will never make up for the moment he pulled the trigger, killing Edwina Marter,” De Gruy said. “This was thought out, planned out and carried out.”

“There was so much involved in this calculated, horrific, disgusting decision. He had many opportunities not to go through with this.”

Contact Charlie Drape at cdrape@gannett.com.