A Missouri prisoner was executed by injection early Wednesday for stabbing to death his cellmate. In Texas, a condemned man from Mexico whose case drew pleas of mercy from the Mexican government won a reprieve with just hours to spare.
Martsay Bolder, 35, went to his death at the Potosi (Mo.) Correctional Cen-ter for the 1979 slaying of fellow inmate Theron King. At the time, Bolder was serving a life sentence for killing a homeowner during a 1973 break-in.Bolder, who converted to Islam while in prison, refused a sedative on religious grounds and died with the Koran on his chest.
Just before he was put to death, he told told prison Superintendent Paul Delo: "I'm mad at the system, I'm mad at the government. I'm not mad at you."
In Huntsville, Texas, Ramon Montoya had faced lethal injection early Wednesday, but Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia issued a reprieve to allow the full court to decide whether to hear Montoya's appeal.
Montoya, 39, was sentenced to die for shooting to death John Pasco, a 27-year-old Dallas police officer, in 1983.
On Monday, in two capital cases from Texas, the high court made it tougher for death row inmates to win reprieves. "I don't know what's going on," said Bill Zapalac, an assistant Texas attorney general who handles capital cases.
Montoya contends his confession was the result of police interrogation that violated his right to have a lawyer present.