Tuesday’s scheduled execution would be 16 days shy of 23 years since 42-year-old Michael Tisius killed two unarmed Randolph County jail workers. Gov. Mike Parson said he will not block the lethal injection planned for the man convicted of murdering Jason Acton and Leon Egley.
“Missouri’s judicial system provided Mr. Tisius with due process and fair proceedings for his brutal murders of two Randolph County jail guards,” Governor Parson said in a written statement. “Having run a small county jail, I know firsthand the hard work and selflessness displayed by those who work there. It’s despicable that two dedicated public servants were murdered in a failed attempt to help another criminal evade the law. The state of Missouri will carry out Mr. Tisius’s sentences according to the Court’s order and deliver justice.”
Tisius was trying to break out a former inmate in 2000 when he shot to death Acton and Egley. He, along with Tracie Bulington, attempted to help Roy Vance escape from the jail in Huntsville.
After shooting the men, Tisius could not find the keys to Vance’s cell. He and Bulington gave up and took off.
Tisius and Bulington were caught nine hours later 130 miles away in Doniphan County, Kansas. Her car had broken down and the two were walking along the highway there. Tisius confessed to the murders after his arrest.
Jason Acton was 36 years old and had only been on the job for two months when he was murdered. Leon Egley was 33 and was a jail supervisor.
Egley had been pushing for a new jail with better security. At the time of the murders, the jail was 91 years old.
Vance is serving a life sentence without parole in Bonne Terre for two counts of first-degree murder. As for Tracie Bulington, she is serving two life sentences in Chillicothe, after being convicted of two counts of second-degree murder.
The U.S. Supreme Court has also denied a request by Tisius to block the execution.
Tisius is scheduled to die as early as 6 p.m. Tuesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre.
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