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Hearing set for convicted murderer whose execution was halted in May

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A hearing date of September 9 has been set for the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to hear arguments in the case of a convicted Missouri inmate whose execution was halted last month.

Russell Bucklew (courtesy, Missouri Department of Corrections)

Russell Bucklew (courtesy, Missouri Department of Corrections)

The U.S. Supreme Court wants the Appeals Court to hear the claims by attorneys for 46-year-old Russell E. Bucklew that he has a medical condition that could result in suffering if he undergoes a lethal injection, which would violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

Bucklew has a condition known as cavernous hemangioma that results in malformed blood vessels. His attorneys argue that could cause, among other things, a painful or prolonged lethal injection.

Attorney Cheryl Pilate says the potential for suffering is greater because of Missouri’s policy of secrecy regarding its execution procedures and drugs.

“A protocol in which virtually nothing is known about either the drug itself or its safety or where it came from or how certain things are going to be done during the execution,” says Pilate. “The secrecy is a factor that is common to all these executions that we’ve seen carried out in Missouri but because of Mr. Bucklew’s unique medical condition, we believe the risks to him were heightened.”

Pilate says it would be inappropriate to speculate about the outcome of her client’s case, but notes that if the state is prevented from giving him a lethal injection, it is unclear how Missouri might proceed. State law only allows for executions to be carried out by lethal injection or lethal gas.

“It’s my understanding the state is not prepared to proceed with lethal gas, so it would appear that absent some other kind of statutory authorization that there would not be other options,” says Pilate.

Bucklew was sentenced to death in 1997 for fatally shooting Michael Sanders in Cape Girardeau County. Bucklew believed Sanders to be his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. Bucklew then kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend before getting involved in a gunfight with authorities that left him and a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper wounded.

Missouri is scheduled to carry out early Wednesday morning the lethal injection execution of John Winfield for the murders of Arthea Sanders and Shawnee Murphy, friends of his ex-girlfriend.

US Supreme Court halts execution of convicted murderer Russell Bucklew

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The execution of convicted Missouri inmate Russell Bucklew has been halted by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Russell Bucklew (courtesy, Missouri Department of Corrections)

Russell Bucklew (courtesy, Missouri Department of Corrections)

The Court ruled the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals should consider the appeal filed by Bucklew’s attorneys. They argue that a rare medical condition affecting Bucklew’s blood vessels creates a heightened risk that he would suffer during a lethal injection. They also challenge the policy of secrecy by the Missouri Department of Corrections regarding the maker of its lethal injection drug, pentobarbital.

See the Court’s order

Bucklew was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder in Cape Girardeau County of Michael Sanders, thought to be the boyfriend of Bucklew’s ex-girlfriend. Bucklew committed the murder in front of Sanders’ 6-year-old son, who he also shot at and missed, before kidnapping his ex-girlfriend whom he raped and assaulted. He was captured after a shootout that left him and a Highway Patrolman wounded.

His execution had been set for 12:01 Wednesday morning at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre but the Supreme Court issued a stay late Tuesday night, and issued its order Wednesday afternoon.

Mike Lear talks death penalty with St. Louis Public Radio’s Chris McDaniel (VIDEO)

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Attorneys for condemned Missouri inmate Russell Bucklew and others say a botched execution this week in Oklahoma is reason for concern regarding Missouri’s procedures.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Chris McDaniel talks with Mike Lear about what’s happened in Oklahoma and what parallels exist between its protocols and Missouri’s.

Victims’ son: ‘no real satisfaction’ from execution of William Rousan (VIDEO)

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The state of Missouri has carried out the execution of William Rousan, who was convicted of the murders of Grace and Charles Lewis in 1993.

Following his execution early Wednesday morning, one of the Lewises’ children, Michael, read the following statement to the media:


“I draw no real satisfaction from Mr. Rousan’s incarceration or execution, for neither can replace or restore the moments lost with my parents or give my sons back the grandparents they never got to know. Nor can it fully heal the broken hearts and lives of our family, or his family who my heart also goes out to.

“I hope that Mr. Rousan made peace with Jesus, for that is what Charles and Grace Lewis would want, for sure.

As for the death penalty, I think the delay from sentencing to finalization is too long. I have never thought of it as revenge or justice served in terms of an “eye for eye” so to speak. Nor do I see it as a big deterrent to would be criminals. But I still believe it is a humane and permanent prevention of further criminal activities by the convicted inmate.”

Lewis declined to take questions from the media. He was joined at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre by his wife, two sisters and a brother-in-law, none of whom spoke to the media.

Attorney General statement on execution of Michael Taylor

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Upon the completion of the execution of Michael Taylor, Attorney General Chris Koster released this statement:

“Over 9,100 days have passed since the morning Michael Taylor and Roderick Nunley kidnapped 15-year-old Ann Harrison as she waited for her school bus. Taylor and Nunley raped her, repeatedly stabbed her, and left her to die in the trunk of a stolen car. Taylor spent 20 years attempting to convince the courts to overturn his death sentence – five years longer than Ann Harrison lived on this earth. Please take a moment to keep Ann and her family in your thoughts and prayers.”

See more on the execution of Michael Taylor

Three inmates’ attorneys argue against setting of their execution dates

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Attorneys for three men sentenced to be executed have presented their arguments to the Missouri Supreme Court why it shouldn’t set a date for their executions. The Court ordered those attorneys to prepare those arguments in Show Cause orders issued in each case, January 29.  The State Attorney General’s Office has responded to two of them.

Russell Bucklew, William Rousan and Cecil Clayton (photos courtesy; Missouri Department of Corrections)

Russell Bucklew, William Rousan and Cecil Clayton (photos courtesy; Missouri Department of Corrections)

Among the arguments attorneys for William Rousan, Russell Bucklew and Cecil Clayton separately make is that because their clients are plaintiffs in Zink v. Lombardi, ongoing federal litigation regarding Missouri’s lethal injection process, their executions should not proceed until that has been settled. To this point, the Attorney General’s Office argues legal precedent that federal litigation is not a reason not to set an execution date.  Joseph Franklin, Allen Nicklasson and Herbert Smulls were also plaintiffs in Zink v. Lombardi when they were executed in November, December and January, respectively.

Attorneys for Clayton argue that he is incompetent to understand his punishment due to a deteriorating mental state, in part because of a head injury 25 years before he fatally shot Berry County Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher Castetter in November, 1996. That injury at a sawmill resulted in the removal of part of the right frontal lobe of his brain. The Attorney General’s Office’s response to the arguments of Clayton’s attorneys is due March 5.

Attorneys for Bucklew, who in 1996 shot Michael Sanders, the presumed new boyfriend of his ex, say he suffers from malformed blood vessels that cause among other things, bleeding from his mouth and eyes, and could increase the risk of a painful or prolonged lethal injection. The state argues that doesn’t merit an indefinite delay in setting his execution date.

Rousan also claims instructions given to the jury at his trial were confusing; an issue the state says the Court and federal courts have already dealt with. Rousan, his son and brother participated in the murder of a rural Bonne Terre couple as part of a cattle theft and robbery.

Missouri is scheduled to carry out the execution by lethal injection of Michael Taylor early Wednesday morning. Taylor is one of two men sentenced to death after pleading guilty to the 1989 murder of 15-year-old Ann Harrison of Kansas City.

On Friday the State Supreme Court set March 26 as the date for the execution of Jeffrey Ferguson for the 1989 abduction, rape and murder of 17-year-old Kelli Hall in St. Louis County.

Both Ferguson and Taylor were among four men for whom the Supreme Court in December ordered attorneys to present arguments why their execution dates should not be set. The others of those four were Roderick Nunley and David Barnett. Nunley is the second man who plead guilty in the murder of Harrison. Barnett stabbed each of his grandparents more than 10 times at their Glendale home before stealing their car and $120 in cash.

State Supreme Court sets execution date for Jeffrey Ferguson

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The state Supreme Court has issued an execution order for 59-year-old Jeffrey Ferguson for the 1989 abduction, rape and murder of 17-year-old Kelli Hall in St. Louis County. The Court has set March 26 as his execution date.

Jeffrey Ferguson (photo courtesy, Missouri Department of Corrections)

Jeffrey Ferguson (photo courtesy, Missouri Department of Corrections)

Ferguson and another man, Kenneth Ousley, abducted Hall from the St. Charles gas station she was working at on February 9, 1989. Her body was found three weeks later on a nearby farm. DNA evidence found on Hall’s coat was matched to Ferguson.

Ferguson and Ousley were charged with first degree murder but Ousley pleaded guilty and received a life sentence.

See the execution order for Jeffrey Ferguson from the Missouri Supreme Court

The next execution is set to happen early Wednesday morning. 48-year-old Michael Taylor is to receive a lethal injection for another 1989 murder, that of 15-year-old Ann Harrison of Kansas City.

Taylor and Furguson were among four condemned men, the attorneys for whom were ordered by the Court in December to present arguments why it should not set their execution dates. The other two of those four were Roderick Nunley, also involved in the murder of Ann Harrison, and David Barnett, sentenced to death for the murder of his grandparents.

Governor Nixon denies clemency to man scheduled for execution early Wednesday

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Governor Jay Nixon has denied a clemency petition for 56-year-old Herbert Smulls, scheduled to be executed early tomorrow by lethal injection for the 1991 murder of a St. Louis County jewelry store owner.

Herbert Smulls (courtesy, Missouri Department of Corrections)

Herbert Smulls (courtesy, Missouri Department of Corrections)

In a statement, Nixon says he has reviewed Smulls’ case, saying the decision is not one he takes lightly.

Herbert Smulls shot and killed Stephen Honickman and seriously wounded Florence Honickman in a cold-blooded and deliberate manner during a robbery of their jewelry business in Chesterfield,” says Nixon. “A career criminal, Smulls was apprehended by law enforcement shortly after the murder with stolen jewelry still in the car.

“These crimes were brutal, and the jury that convicted Smulls determined that he deserved the most severe punishment under Missouri law. Both the conviction and the death sentence of Herbert Smulls have held up under extensive judicial review by the state and federal courts. My decision on clemency upholds the action by the jury and the decisions by the courts.

“I ask that Missourians remember Stephen Honickman at this time, and keep Florence Honickman and the family and friends of the Honickmans in their thoughts and prayers.”

Smulls is scheduled to be executed just after midnight Wednesday morning at the Eastern Reception and Diagnostic Correctional Center at Bonne Terre, Missouri.

Supreme Court sets execution date for Michael Taylor

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The state Supreme Court has set an execution date for Michael Taylor, one of two men who pleaded guilty to the 1989 murder of a 15-year-old girl. The Court has ordered that he be executed February 26.

Michael Taylor (courtesy; Missouri Department of Corrections)

Michael Taylor (courtesy; Missouri Department of Corrections)

Taylor and Roderick Nunley both admitted to abducting Ann Harrison from the driveway of her Kansas City home where she was waiting to go to school. Taylor had raped the girl with Nunley’s help in the basement of Nunley’s mother’s home before fatally stabbing her and abandoning her body in the trunk of a car. 

Taylor turns 47 January 30.

Nunley is also sentenced to death. The Court in December ordered attorneys for Nunley, Taylor and two other condemned men, Jeffrey Ferguson and David Barnett, to present their arguments why it should not set dates for their executions. Taylor is the first of those four to have such a date set. The Corrections Department is set to carry out its next execution Wednesday. Herbert Smulls is 56 and has been on death row for 21 years. He was sentenced to death in 1991 for the fatal shooting of Stephen Honickman, a St. Louis County jewelry store owner.Taylor was to have been executed February 1, 2006, but it was halted while the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of lethal injection. The Court denied his appeal in 2008.

See the execution order from the Missouri Supreme Court (pdf)

Department of Corrections will not testify Tuesday about executions

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There will be no revelations in a legislative committee hearing today about how Missouri carries out executions.

Jay Barnes (left) was asked by House Speaker Tim Jones (right) to hold hearings of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability on the execution process used by the Corrections Department. (Photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications.)

Jay Barnes (left) was asked by House Speaker Tim Jones (right) to hold hearings of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability on the execution process used by the Corrections Department. (Photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications.)

Representative Jay Barnes (R-Jefferson City) says the Department of Corrections’ Director George Lombardi is not going to testify before the House Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability, which Barnes chairs. The Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing to take testimony regarding the death penalty from the Department today.

House Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka) asked Barnes to hold hearings on the issue in light of questions regarding the Department’s procurement of execution drugs and how it determines whether a condemned man has exhausted all of his appeals.

See our earlier story on the call for the Oversight Committee investigation.

Barnes says he had a lengthy telephone discussion Monday with someone “above Corrections,” who informed him that Lombardi would not testify on Tuesday.  The reason for the refusal is not being stated publicly. 

Without Lombardi, Barnes says he won’t take testimony.

“Every investigation this committee has done has involved testimony from both sides of an issue or occurrence. I want to keep it that way and want to ensure that when there’s a hearing that the Department of Corrections testifies as well as, potentially, people on the other side of the issue.”

Barnes says he has been assured that Lombardi will testify to the Committee at another time, but says it’s disappointing that it won’t be happening today.

“Regardless of where you stand on the death penalty, everyone should agree that it ought to be carried out with respect for our Constitution and the rule of law. These issues are not going away and the Committee is looking forward to exploring them at a future date.”

Barnes says as long as he believes an agreement can be reached to have Lombardi testify at a later date he won’t attempt to use a subpoena to make that happen, but says if the director continues to refuse to appear it would be appropriate to consider a subpoena.

He says the Committee will still meet Tuesday but it will be an organizational meeting only. No testimony will be taken.