Governor Corbett Signs Execution Warrant for Allegheny County Killer

HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Tom Corbett signed an execution warrant Tuesday for Kenneth Hairston, who was sentenced to death for killing his wife and autistic teenage son.

Hairston, formerly of Allegheny County, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for the death of his wife, Katherine, and their son, 14-year-old Sean, in June 2001. Following the trial in 2002, the jury sentenced Hairston to death.

Firefighters found the two badly beaten victims inside the family's smoke-filled home. Mrs. Hairston was pronounced dead at the scene and Sean died a short time later at the hospital.

Hairston, who was also rescued from the burning home, later confessed to beating his wife and son with a sledgehammer and then setting the house on fire.

Hairston, now 60, is a prisoner at the State Correctional Institution at Greene. His execution by lethal injection is scheduled for Jan. 18, 2012.

This warrant, one of two signed Tuesday, is Corbett's 10th execution warrant.

Media contact:  Janet Kelley, 717-783-1116

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor