MISSOURI (USA): JOHN MIDDLETON EXECUTED

John Middleton, 54, White, was executed at about 8 p.m..
The execution occurred several hours after it was originally scheduled, at 12:01 a.m. U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry granted a stay of execution late yesterday, citing a need for a hearing to determine if Middleton was mentally ill.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the stay and neither the U.S. Supreme Court nor the Missouri Supreme Court would halt the execution. Missouri law allows a 24-hour window for executions. That means if Middleton has not been executed by midnight Thursday, the Missouri Supreme Court would need to set a new execution date.
Middleton was convicted in 1997 of killing Randy Hamilton and Stacey Hodge on June 11, 1995. He then killed Alfred Pinegar on June 23, 1995, out of concern that they would tell police about Middleton's methamphetamine dealing.
Middleton becomes the 6th inmate to be put to death this year in Missouri, the 76th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1989, the 24th to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1383rd overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.