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Despite Loss Of Key Supporter, N.H. Senate Takes Second Vote On Death Penalty Repeal

The Senate is voting for the second time whether to repeal New Hampshire's death penalty, but the loss of a key supporter may doom the bill.

Sen. Bob Odell, who had voted for repeal, says he won't vote to take up the issue again.

The first bill stalled in the Senate on a 12-12 vote last month. The House then passed a second bill repealing capital punishment which the Senate is scheduled to vote on on Thursday.

A tie vote would leave the bill in limbo until the session ends June 5, when it would likely die. With Odell switching sides, the bill probably will die Thursday.

The state's last execution was in 1939, when Howard Long was hanged for molesting and fatally beating a 10-year-old boy.

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