In reading the five page statement from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on denying clemency to convicted murderer Stanley Tookie Williams, it seems clear that a key sticking point for the governor was Williams’ long-standing denial of the four murders.

Barring any last-minute court interventions, the 51-year-old former street gangster will die by lethal injection just after midnight.

Williams’ plea for clemency rested, in part, on the notion that he has become a changed man while behind bars. But he also maintains he did not commit any of the four 1979 murders for which he was convicted. And Schwarzenegger, in a carefully worded statement released about 12:45 p.m., says that the idea of redemption is hard to square with those denials:

“Is Williams’ redemption complete and sincere, or is it just a hollow promise? Stanley Williams insists he is innocent, and that he will not and should not apologize or otherwise atone for the murders of the four victims in this case. Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings there can be no redemption. In this case, the one thing that would be the clearest indication of complete remorse and full redemption is the one thing Williams will not do.”