Appeals court lifts execution stay for white supremacist serial killer set to die in Missouri

BONNE TERRE, Mo. – A federal appeals court in Missouri has upheld the execution of white supremacist serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin, restoring the state’s plans to kill him just hours after the execution was blocked.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled early Wednesday that Missouri could proceed with Franklin’s execution. Earlier, a lower court blocked the execution and claimed the state’s disputed protocol for administering lethal injection must be resolved.

The latest ruling means that only the U.S. Supreme Court can intervene and stop the execution.

The lower court judge said the state had not satisfied questions about the production of the pentobarbital Missouri planned to use. The judge chastised Missouri’s frequently changing lethal injection plans, calling them a “frustratingly moving target.”

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