A man who fatally shot a sheriff’s deputy who stopped him for speeding on a Georgia interstate was put to death last night for the 1998 killing, which was captured on the patrol car’s video camera, the Associated Press reports. Andrew Howard Brannan, 66, was convicted of shooting Kyle Dinkheller, 22, of Laurens County in central Georgia.
Attorneys for Brannan, a Vietnam veteran, had unsuccessfully argued to spare the inmate’s life, saying the shooting was tied to mental illness directly traced to Brannan’s military service. Dinkheller stopped Brannan for driving 98 mph and demanded he take his hands from his pockets during a traffic stop. Brannan began cursing, dancing in the street and saying “shoot me” before he rushed the deputy. After a scuffle, Brannan pulled a high-powered rifle from his car and shot Dinkheller at least nine times.