PHOENIX -- A convicted Arizona killer who last year came within hours of death before being granted a reprieve was executed by lethal injection Wednesday, state prison officials said.
Officials said Michael Poland, 59, was put to death inside the state prison complex in Florence, Ariz., about 55 miles southeast of Phoenix. He succumbed to the deadly chemical mixture in two minutes.A wisecracking Poland mouthed, "I love you," to family members and then joked about a next meal when asked if had any last words.
"I would like to know if you're going to bring me lunch afterward," he said. "I'm really hungry. I can't think of anything else."
There was no 11th-hour court stay this time for Poland, one of two brothers who brazenly robbed a cash-filled armored truck in May 1977 and then killed two guards.
Poland had escaped execution in October, when a federal judge temporarily halted the execution until a mental competency test could be completed.
A local judge ruled this week that Poland was competent to be executed despite pleas from his attorneys that he was delusional and could not be legally executed.
State and federal law require a person to be mentally competent to be put to death. Prosecutors accused Poland of lying to save his life.
On Tuesday a state panel also rebuffed any competency claims and denied his attorney's appeal for the execution to be delayed or stopped. Poland did not attend the hearing.
A last-minute appeal for a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court also failed.