Dustin Higgs executed less than a week before Inauguration Day By Mallika Kallingal and Christina Carrega, CNN Updated 2:59 AM ET, Sat January 16, 2021 Dustin Higgs (CNN)Dustin John Higgs was executed in the early hours of Saturday morning becoming the 13th and last federal death row inmate to be executed since the Justice Department restarted federal executions in July 2019. He had been convicted of kidnapping and murdering three women in 1996. Higgs maintained his innocence until his death, according to a pool report. The tone of his voice was calm but defiant as he said his last words, "I'd like to say I am an innocent man," he said, mentioning the three women by name. "I did not order the murders," the report said.