ST. LOUIS (AP) – A Missouri inmate lost an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday just hours before he was scheduled to be executed, arguing unsuccessfully that the lethal drug could cause a painful death.
Walter Timothy Storey is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for killing a woman who was his neighbor 25 years ago in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles. After a Missouri-record 10 executions in 2014, it would be the state’s first this year.
The nation’s highest court turned down Storey’s application for a stay of execution in an application submitted to Justice Samuel Alito. Four justices – Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan – would have granted the stay.
A clemency request is pending with Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon.
Missouri obtains its execution drug, pentobarbital, from an unnamed compounding pharmacy, and prison officials refuse to disclose details about how or if it is tested. Storey’s attorney argues that the secrecy makes it impossible to know if the barbiturate will quickly work or cause an unconstitutionally painful death.