A Florida man convicted of killing eight people, including two teenagers, during the 1970s was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection last night after an appeals court rejected his lawyers’ claims that he is mentally insane.
The execution of John Errol Ferguson (64) was set to begin shortly after 6pm local time at Florida State Prison. His lawyers have applied for an emergency stay from the US Supreme Court.
Ferguson, who has been on death row for 34 years, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1978 for a pair of killing sprees. State psychiatrists and other medical professionals have diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic, say his defence team. – (Reuters)