MISSOURI (USA): NICKLASSON EXECUTED AFTER SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS STAY
December 11, 2013: The U.S. Supreme Court overruled a stay of execution granted to Allen Nicklasson by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, clearing the way for his execution.
Nicklasson was pronounced dead at 10:54 p.m. It was initially scheduled for 12:01 a.m., but was delayed due to concerns about Nicklasson's legal representation. The state then appealed to the Supreme Court, which overturned the stay of execution.
Nicklasson received the death sentence in 1996 for the 1994 murder of Richard Drummond, who Nicklasson shot after he stopped to help him and 2 friends who were stranded on the side of a Missouri highway. Missouri uses pentobarbital from a compounding pharmacy. It used the drug for the 1st time in last month's execution of serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin.
Nicklasson becomes the 2nd inmate to be put to death this year in Missouri, the 70th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1989, the 38th inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1358th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (Sources: KSDK & Rick Halperin, 11/12/2013)
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