Supreme Court of Missouri issues execution date for Columbia man found guilty in 1994 murder

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Supreme Court has set an Oct. 5 date for the execution of a Columbia man convicted in a triple-murder.

Ernest Lee Johnson was sentenced to death for the 1994 killing of Mary Bratcher, Mable Scruggs, and Fred Jones at a Columbia convenience store with a claw hammer.

Johnson's execution was halted in 2015 when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling asked a lower court to review his case. Johnson argued that his brain tumor scars are a rare medical condition that would result in severe pain if he is given death-causing drugs.

Johnson was also denied an alternative method of execution (firing squad) in May by the US Supreme Court.

Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, a group that advocates against capital punishment, questioned why the court would set an execution date while Johnson has a pending challenge to his sentence open.