SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A man convicted of raping and murdering a 9-year-old girl is scheduled for execution in South Dakota, ending a 22-year-long legal saga that left a mark on the people of Sioux Falls.
Sixty-year-old Donald Moeller abducted the girl as she walked to a grocery store in May 1990. He was sentenced to death in 1992, but his execution was delayed by appeals and legal complications. It's scheduled for Tuesday.
The child's mother, Tina Curl, plans to drive back to Sioux Falls from her home in New York to watch the execution. She said the death of her daughter Becky led her into years of alcoholism. Residents said the case changed how they felt about their city.
Moeller's death sentence was the first handed down in South Dakota since the 1940s.
