Execution date set for convicted killer

The Supreme Court of Missouri announced on Tuesday that a warrant of execution was signed for Russell Bucklew.

In 1997, a jury convicted Bucklew of first degree murder, kidnapping, and first degree burglary and recommended the death sentence, court documents show.

He was accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend’s presumed new boyfriend, Michael Sanders, and firing at Sanders’ son, 6, before kidnapping Stephanie Ray Pruitt. After raping his ex-girlfriend, he became involved in a gunfight with authorities, during which Bucklew and a Missouri state trooper were injured, according to court documents.

In 2014, the United States Supreme Court halted the execution of Bucklew after Bucklew’s attorneys said the combination of the secrecy surrounding the execution drug and Bucklew’s medical condition affecting his blood vessels made for an unacceptably high risk that he would experience extreme pain if injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital.

According to the warrant of execution, Bucklew is scheduled to be executed on March 20.