A man on Missouri’s death row is on “an emotional roller coaster” amid efforts to spare his life with just one day before his scheduled execution, his attorney said.
Michael Tisius, 42, is set to die by injection Tuesday evening at the state prison in Bonne Terre for killing two jailers in 2000 in an ill-fated effort to free a man from a county jail. He would be the third Missouri man, and the 12th nationally, put to death in 2023.
A clemency request before Republican Gov. Mike Parson focuses on several issues. Among them: Tisius was just 19 at the time of the killings; he had been neglected as a child; and a juror at his 2010 resentencing may have been illiterate — in violation of Missouri law. It’s unclear when Parson will announce his decision. A message left Monday with his spokeswoman wasn’t immediately returned.
FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS EXECUTION OF MISSOURI INMATE AMID JUROR LITERACY CONCERNS
A 2005 Supreme Court ruling prohibits executions for those who were under 18 at the time of the crime. But Carlyle said “emerging science plus information about Mr. Tisius’ own brain dictates that they should now change that rule to apply to Mr. Tisius.”
A court filing from the Missouri attorney general’s office noted that both the original trial jury and the jury at resentencing considered Tisius’ age and mental health, “yet both juries still decided to impose the death penalty.” The Supreme Court turned aside the appeal without comment.
Advocates for Tisius say he was largely neglected as a child and was homeless by his early teens. In 1999, as an 18-year-old, he was jailed on a misdemeanor charge for pawning a rented stereo system.
Tisius found keys at the dispatch area and tried to open Vance’s cell, but couldn’t. When Egley grabbed Bulington’s leg, Tisius shot him several more times.
Tisius and Bulington fled but their car broke down in Kansas. They were arrested in Wathena, Kansas, about 130 miles west of Huntsville. Tisius confessed to the crimes.
Bulington and Vance are serving life sentences.
Raheem Taylor, 58, was put to death in February for killing his live-in girlfriend and her three children in 2004 in St. Louis County.
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Four of the U.S. executions this year have been in Texas, and three in Florida.
