Update:
A federal judge has granted a stay of execution for John Middleton, hours before he is scheduled to be put to death in Missouri.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry ruled Tuesday that there was enough question about whether Middleton is insane that a hearing should be held to determine if he should be executed. The U.S. Constitution prohibits executing the mentally ill.
The Missouri Attorney General’s office immediately appealed the ruling.
Earlier version:
The attorney for a Northwest Missouri death row inmate says the state is about to execute an innocent man, but the sheriff where the crime occurred disagrees.
John Middleton is scheduled to die early Wednesday morning. He was a northern Missouri methamphetamine dealer who was sentenced to death after he was convicted of the 1995 murders of Randy “Happy” Hamilton, Stacey Hodge, and Alfred Pinegar.
A witness came forward in February suggesting that two other men were the real killer. Middleton’s attorney, Joseph Perkovich, says police and prosecutors allowed the real killers to fashion the case against Middleton.
Harrison County Sheriff Josh Eckerson revisited the case based on the affidavit of the new witness. His determination: Middleton was the killer.
Middleton’s lethal injection is scheduled to begin at one minute past midnight Wednesday morning.