As Missouri prepares for its fifth execution in five months, the Missouri Supreme Court on Friday set the date for another, continuing what could be a record year.
Jeffrey Ferguson is scheduled to die Wednesday for abducting and killing a teenager in St. Charles County in 1989. His attorneys on Thursday filed appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking that the execution be delayed until lower courts can decide if a stay should be granted. Ferguson's attorneys also claim that his conviction was based, in part, on false testimony from an FBI agent.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the Missouri Supreme Court set an April 23 execution date for William Rousan. Rousan was sentenced to death for killing 62-year-old Grace Lewis, who lived on a farm near Bonne Terre, in 1993.
