Hartford, Conn. ? New England’s first execution in 45 years Friday has some opponents of capital punishment worried that the death penalty will gain wider acceptance in the region. But many advocates and experts are not concerned.

They say the execution of serial killer Michael Ross stemmed more from the special circumstances of the case, including his decision to abandon any appeals, rather than a broader movement toward more executions in New England.

“If you don’t have volunteers, you don’t have many executions in these cases. There is not a lot of enthusiasm for it,” said David Baldus, a University of Iowa law professor who has studied the death penalty.

Ross admitted killing eight women and raping most of them. A University of Connecticut poll in January showed that 81 percent of state residents supported his execution, while 58 percent of residents favored the death penalty in general.

Even supporters of the death penalty do not expect its wide use in the region.

“Executions in more liberal states are not blocked by public opinion,” said John C. McAdams, a Marquette University political scientist and a death penalty supporter. “They’re blocked by political elites, and the political elites won’t necessarily change their opinions just because one person has been executed.”

Yet the Ross case has brought home the reality that Connecticut is now a state where prisoners may be put to death.

“My fear is this will leave a psychic imprint on the state of Connecticut in many different ways,” said Robert Nave, executive director of the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty. “It’s teaching our children that the state can function as executioner, which I think is frightening.”

Protesters, from left, Dennis Hamilton, of New Haven, Conn., Virginia Brault, Father Larry Brault, both of Upton, Mass., and Sue Malone, of West Burough, Mass., wait together for the execution of convicted murderer Michael Ross outside the Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers, Conn. Ross was put to death early Friday in New England's first execution in 45 years.

Connecticut has six other men on death row. It is unclear who is next, or when.