11.   At one point a soldier in the van suggested that they write letters asking their families for money to spare their lives.

12.   Attorneys for Harris, describing him as a man with severe psychological problems and an addiction to alcohol and cocaine, had pressed jurors to spare his life.

13.   Because the pope asked him to, Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan spared the life of triple murderer Darrell Mease, who was scheduled to die by lethal injection.

14.   Believing in his innocence, I was part of a team trying to convince the governor to spare his life and grant a new trial.

15.   A less-celebrated but no less powerful moment came when Tony ultimately spared the life of a soccer coach who got on his wrong side.

16.   A girl who was in the school library when the student-terrorists attacked managed to survive by begging one of the killers to spare her life.

17.   A jury convicted Mateo last month and sentenced him to die, rejecting arguments that his life should be spared because he had been physically abused as a child.

18.   After that vote, the jurors went around the conference table with each explaining why they favored sparing her life, Belue said.

19.   All urged the judge to spare the life of a man whose son and daughter have already lost their mother.

20.   Borisov was unable to move when he regained consciousness, but he thanked God for sparing his life.