Killer dodges death row after operation to cure evil

14.08.00: A CONVICTED murderer in Nebraska has undergone a revolutionary brain operation that will allow him to walk free.

Surgeons at Buffalo County hospital inserted a tiny electrical implant into the left orbito-frontal cortex of Jason Smith's brain. This area is known to inhibit impulses that in some people lead to violent behaviour.

The team, led by Dr Peter Lovestrange a cognitive neurologist at New York State University, implanted the device which activates an area of the brain associated with emotional sensitivity. The device is controlled by a remote "zapper".

Eight years ago, Smith was sentenced to die in the electric chair for the murder of 90-year-old Edith Jacobs during a drugstore robbery. As part of his final appeal, Smith volunteered for the pioneering brain operation that surgeons believe is a "cure for evil".

"I used to be a monster ­ but now I'm