Most executions you read about are for crimes committed generally 30-35 years prior. Say a guy commits his crime in 1985, he’s 30 and next week his execution comes up and he’s now 67. (Exception Tim McVeigh)
Is that really the death penalty??
In the UK, before they abolished the death penalty, if you murdered someone, you’d likely hang weeks or months after being found guilty.
Here in the U.S., the guy who tried to assassinate President-elect FDR, but killed Chicago Mayor Cermack, was electrocuted within weeks after the attempt. This is within (barely) living memory.
I realize that mistakes can be and are made. On the other hand, the majority of murders are pretty straightforward. The idea that it should take decades to decide if he or she really did it seems to be absurd.