Missouri executes man convicted of 1993 murders

The state of Missouri executed inmate William Rousan early Wednesday morning. He was convicted of killing a farming couple in 1993.

His lawyers failed to halt his execution over concerns about the state's secret lethal injection drugs a day after an Oklahoma court stopped two executions there over similar issues.

Attorneys for death row inmates in several states have recently raised a series of arguments against the use of compounded drugs for executions. 

Many states have turned to lightly regulated compounding pharmacies for supplies because makers of drugs traditionally used in lethal injections have largely stopped making them available for executions.

In this particular case, the attorneys for 57-year-old Rousan, who was executed at 12:10 a.m. Wednesday at Missouri's Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, argued that Missouri's secret execution drugs could cause their client undue suffering. Rousan was convicted of murdering 62-year-old Grace Lewis and her 67-year-old husband, Charles Lewis, in 1993 in a plot to steal the farm couple's cattle.

Prosecutors say Rousan, his teenage son Brent Rousan and William's brother Robert Rousan murdered Charlie and Grace Lewis on Sept. 21, 1993 as part of a plot to steal two of the couple's cows. Brent Rousan is serving life in prison without parole. Robert Rousan served seven years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday rejected Rousan's appeal, and the case moved to the U.S. Supreme Court, which on Tuesday refused to stay the execution. 

Gov. Jay Nixon declined William Rousan's clemency request Tuesday evening, clearing the way for the execution to proceed. 

The execution follows a decision issued on Monday by the Oklahoma Supreme Court that halted the executions of Clayton Lockett, scheduled for Tuesday, and Charles Warner, scheduled for April 29. 

Lockett, 38, was scheduled to die by lethal injection for the 1999 shooting death of 19-year-old Stephanie Nieman. Warner, 46, who was convicted in the 1997 death of his roommate's 11-month-old daughter.

The court said the inmates had the right to have an opportunity to challenge the secrecy over the drugs Oklahoma intends to use to put them to death.

The stay halted the executions until the state Supreme Court can hold a hearing on the inmates' lawsuit challenging the secrecy protocol surrounding the source of Oklahoma's lethal injection drugs. 

Lawyers have argued that drugs obtained for lethal injections from compounding pharmacies could lead to undue suffering, which would amount to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the U.S. Constitution. They also say they should have information about the legitimacy of the supplier, and details about the purity and potency of the drugs.

Prison officials have rejected those arguments and have been refusing to reveal where they are getting the drugs. But Louisiana and Ohio this year have seen executions delayed because of concerns about suffering that might be caused by non-traditional drug supplies. 

The family of one inmate executed in Ohio in January has filed suit against the state because, according to some witnesses, he took an unusually long time to die and appeared to be in pain. Last year, Missouri started classifying compounding pharmacies as part of its execution team and said the identities of the pharmacies were thus shielded from public disclosure. 

Wire services