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The authorities in the US state of Alabama have executed a man of 83 found guilty of murdering a judge and a lawyer in bomb attacks in 1989.

Walter Moody became the oldest prisoner to be executed in the US since the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976.

He was put to death by lethal injection at the William C Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore on Thursday evening.

It was the eighth execution to be carried out in the US this year.

Moody was convicted in 1991 on federal murder charges - and then again in 1996 on state charges - for killing US Circuit Court judge Robert Vance.

Mr Vance had presided over a previous case involving Moody in 1972, in which he was found guilty of possessing of a pipe bomb.

Georgia civil rights lawyer Robert Robinson was murdered shortly afterwards.

The US Supreme Court had issued a temporary stay of execution for Moody but it was lifted with no reason given.

, saying it was "unwarranted" and that her "ultimate desire" was to "see justice rightly administered".

The octogenarian had always maintained his innocence. However, he gave no final statement at his execution, prison officials say.

Moody's death by lethal injection took 26 minutes to complete.

Previously, Mississippi man John Nixon, 77, was the oldest man to be executed in the US in modern times.

He was put to death in 2005 having been convicted of murdering a woman in 1985.