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COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The South Carolina Supreme Court connected Wednesday rejected a petition for much accusation connected the firing squad from an inmate acceptable to dice adjacent period implicit concerns astir whether a antheral executed by the method past period suffered a lingering death.
The justices unanimously ruled that attorneys for Stephen Stanko did not beryllium the erstwhile execution was botched adjacent though lawyers argued the firing squad astir missed the inmate's bosom and prolonged his death. They besides said each 3 bulleted fired whitethorn not person deed the prisoner's body.
Stanko, 57, is scheduled to dice June 13. He has been sentenced to decease doubly successful the authorities for 2 abstracted murders — 1 a person and 1 his woman arsenic helium raped her daughter.
Stanko has until Friday to determine if helium wants to dice by firing squad, lethal injection oregon the electrical chair.
Stanko's execution is the archetypal scheduled successful South Carolina since Mikal Mahdi was enactment to decease by firing squad connected April 11.
Mahdi’s lawyers released autopsy results that amusement the shots that killed him barely hit his bosom and suggested helium was successful agonizing symptom for 3 oregon 4 times longer than experts accidental helium would person been if his bosom had been deed directly.
Stanko’s lawyers asked the South Carolina Supreme Court to necessitate situation officials to merchandise much accusation astir the firing squad and lethal injection, saying helium was leaning toward the firing squad until the imaginable problems with Mahdi’s execution surfaced.
Mahdi was the 2nd inmate to dice successful South Carolina by firing squad.
The lone photograph of Mahdi taken astatine his autopsy shows 2 evident thorax wounds. Officials said each 3 bullets fired by the 3 unpaid situation employees deed Mahdi, with 2 going done the aforesaid hole.
During the state’s archetypal firing squad death, the autopsy recovered that Brad Sigmon’s bosom had been destroyed. Just 1 of the 4 chambers of Mahdi’s bosom was perforated, which apt meant helium didn’t dice successful the 15 seconds experts predicted helium would person if the squad’s purpose was true, according to his lawyers.
Witnesses said Mahdi, who had a hood implicit his head, groaned 45 seconds aft helium was shot.
Lawyers for Stanko said Mahdi's autopsy lacked X-rays, an introspection of his covering oregon different investigating typically done to let the results — similar wherever a slug tracked — to beryllium independently verified.
But the authorities Supreme Court rejected the petition for immoderate reports the situation bureau produces to reappraisal executions, the statement of the grooming the firing squad conducts and the steps taken erstwhile an X-ray is done earlier the shooting to find the heart.
The justices besides refused to necessitate situation officials to accidental if the aforesaid members of the firing squad and people placement squad utilized for Mahdi would enactment connected Stanko's execution.
"Appellant has made nary showing that Mahdi’s execution was 'botched' oregon that protocols were not followed specified that Appellant needs further accusation to marque an informed predetermination of the method of his execution," the justices wrote.
Stanko is being executed for sidesplitting his 74-year-old person Henry Turner. Stanko went to Turner’s location successful April 2006 aft lying astir his begetter dying and past changeable Turner doubly portion utilizing a pillow arsenic a silencer, authorities said.
Stanko stole Turner’s truck, cleaned retired his slope relationship and past spent the adjacent fewer days successful Augusta, Georgia, wherever helium told radical successful municipality for the Masters play tourney that helium owned respective Hooters restaurants. He stayed with a pistillate who took him to church. She past called constabulary erstwhile she saw his photograph and that helium was wanted, constabulary said.
Hours earlier sidesplitting Turner, Stanko bushed and strangled his woman successful her location and raped her girl earlier slashing the teen’s throat. The girl survived and testified against him astatine 1 of his trials.
“Stephen Stanko is conscionable plain evil. He has successful his halfway down heavy wrong thing that makes him evil. He’s a atrocious man, helium knows it, and helium likes it. He doesn’t crook distant from it. He volition fell it. He’s very, very, precise bully astatine hiding it, but you cannot equate evil with insanity,” then-prosecutor Greg Hembree said successful his closing connection astatine 1 of Stanko’s trials.
Hembree aboriginal became a authorities legislator and was the main sponsor of the 2021 law allowing South Carolina to usage a firing squad.
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