This is one of the two reasons we are anti-death penalty (there are several reasons why we are pro-death penalty as well)...it turns monsters into martyrs. Here is a man who killed eight times and these religious leaders are fighting to keep this man alive. Couldn't their efforts be put to better use for their flocks? Aren't there homeless people in Connecticut who need a soup kitchen or a warm place to sleep?

Religious leaders speak out over Ross execution plans

In exactly two weeks convicted serial killer Michael Ross is scheduled to die by lethal injection. But some groups continue to fight his execution and today religious leaders had their say.

As the clock ticks towards ross's execution date there are more efforts to stop it. Religious leaders from around the state gathered at the state capitol making their pitch against the death penalty and Ross's execution.

"We're deeply concerned about the victims and their families and those convicted as well," says Most Rev. Christie Mancuso, Auxiliary Bishop of Hartford. "Human life needs to be preserved from conception until natural death. That is why we're opposed to death penalty."

Ross has admitted to killing 8 women in Connecticut and New York in the 1980's. He's on death row for four of those murders and he says he's ready to die. But some religious leaders say not so fast.

"The state should not be giving any consideration to what he wants," says Rev. Dr. Davida Crabtree, United Church of Christ. "Yes, he is guilty of extreme crimes. We have no sympathy for him. We believe he should have to suffer the consequences of his actions, not get the short way out".

The Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ has filed a lawsuit trying to stop the execution.

Ross is set to die by lethal injection January 26th. He would be the first person put to death in Connecticut in 45-years