ITALIANS GATHER FOR VIGIL BEFORE ODELL EXECUTION, 1997-07-24 (photo)

A crowd of people gather for a vigil before convicted rapist and murderer Joseph O'Dell was executed in Virginia as they watch television documentary footage on two maxi screens, July 24. The crowd of anti-death penalty supporters and Amnesty International members gathered in Rome's Campo de Fiori square where executions were once a regular event, including that of Giordano Bruno, a heretic burned alive there in 1600 and whose statue looms in the middle of the square. O'Dell's execution became a focal point for Italy's opposition to capital punishment, prompting calls to halt the execution from the Pope and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. USA EXECUTION