Controversy Surrounds Missouri Execution of Man Involved in Failed Escape Plot
Michael Tisius is set to be executed in Missouri for killing two jailers during a failed escape plot in 2000. His lawyers have appealed to the US Supreme Court to block the execution, alleging that a juror at a sentencing hearing was illiterate. Tisius was 19 at the time of the killings, and his advocates have argued that he was neglected as a child and homeless by his early teens. The execution would be the 12th in the US this year and the third in Missouri.