Alabama Set to Execute a Death Row Inmate Today
Tommy Arthur has avoided execution seven times.
The Seventy-five-year-old inmate is scheduled to be put to death Thursday for the 1982 murder-for-hire of Troy Wicker.
Judy Wicker initially told police a black man broke into the house, raped her and killed her husband. After her conviction, she testified that Arthur killed her husband while wearing a wig and makeup.
Arthur’s legal team has made last-minute appeals seeking to stay the execution. They argued the state intends to use an unreliable sedative and has refused DNA testing on the wig.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Arthur is an egregious example of how a convicted murderer can manipulate the legal system “to avoid justice.”
Arthur maintains his innocence.
From the Alabama Department of Corrections:
Alabama Inmates Currently on Death Row
(Last Updated: 05/25/2017)
Total Number of Inmates on Death Row: 184
Average Age of Inmates on Death Row: 31
BREAKDOWN OF INMATES ON DEATH ROW
Black males: 93 White males: 83 Other males: 3
Black females: 1 White females: 4 Other females: 0
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
