Little won’t commute sick death row inmate’s sentence

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho’s governor has rejected an official recommendation to commute the death sentence of an inmate who is dying of terminal cancer. Gerald Ross Pizzuto Jr. 65, has been on death row for 35 years after being convicted for the July 1985 slayings of two gold prospectors at a cabin north of McCall. His execution had been scheduled for June 2. The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole said Thursday it had asked Gov. Brad Little to commute the sentence  to life in prison. In suggesting changing the sentence the panel had cited Pizzuto’s “current medical condition and evidence of his decreased intellectual function.” Pizzuto has bladder cancer, diabetes and heart disease and is confined to a wheelchair.