AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas is set on Wednesday to execute Lester Bower, one of the longest-serving inmates on the state's death row who says he was wrongly convicted of killing four men in 1983 and has spent three decades trying to halt his capital punishment.
Lawyers for Bower filed a last-minute appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court last week that faults the sentencing, seeking to prevent the execution by lethal injection scheduled for 6:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday at the state's death chamber in Huntsville.
Lawyers for the state said Bower is guilty of fatally shooting the four men in a deal for a $4,000 ultra-light airplane that went bad and there is no compelling legal reason to further delay the execution.
Bower, 67, has faced imminent execution six times while in prison, according to court papers. In March, the Supreme Court declined to hear a separate appeal filed by Bower's lawyers, who argued that three decades on death row amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
After three decades on death row, Texas inmate set for execution - Yahoo News