Justice Department Executes Man for Murder Committed When He Was 18 Despite a high-profile clemency campaign by allies of President Trump, the administration executed Brandon Bernard by lethal injection for his role in the 1999 crime. Brandon Bernard, the ninth man executed by the federal government since July, spent more than half his life on death row. He was convicted for his role in the murders of two youth ministers in 1999, when he was 18.Credit...EPA, via Shutterstock Dec. 10, 2020 WASHINGTON — Despite a high-profile clemency campaign, the Justice Department executed Brandon Bernard by lethal injection on Thursday for his part in a 1999 double murder-robbery when he was 18.