RICHMOND, Va.- Lloyd Sullenberger, a retired Virginia circuit court judge who stayed the execution of a man convicted of murder who was later exonerated, has died. He was 68.

Sullenberger died Wednesday of an apparent heart attack at a Charlottesville hospital, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Saturday.

He was a judge in the 16th Judicial Circuit from 1984 until 2000. The circuit encompasses Charlottesville, as well as eight counties.

In 1985, Sullenberger stayed the execution of Earl Washington Jr., days before he was scheduled to die. Washington had confessed to the 1982 rape and murder of a woman in Culpeper, but was later cleared by DNA evidence. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine issued Washington an "absolute pardon" in 2007.

Sullenberger was a native of Staunton and graduated from the University of Virginia, then joined the U.S. Coast Guard. He later received his law degree from William and Mary and practiced in Orange until becoming a judge.