(AP) – The Missouri Supreme Court has set a March execution date for Russell Bucklew, a convicted killer who narrowly escaped execution three years ago because of a rare medical condition that created the risk of suffering during the execution process.Bucklew is scheduled to die by injection March 20 for killing a man during a violent crime spree in 1996.
Bucklew was moments away from execution in May 2014 when the U.S. Supreme Court halted it and sent the case back to a lower court.
He suffers from a condition known as cavernous hemangioma. It causes weakened and malformed blood vessels, along with tumors in his nose and throat.
His attorneys have said Missouri’s secretive execution drug could cause Bucklew to unconstitutionally suffer during the execution process.
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