Carlton Gary and Alabama deathrow inmate denied stay of execution by U.S. Supreme Court

“Stocking Strangler” Carlton Gary wasn’t the only condemned strangler seeking a stay of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday afternoon.

Before a motion was considered by Gary’s defense attorney, the Supreme Court denied a request from former attorneys to block the execution of Alabama inmate Michael Wayne Eggers who was scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday evening at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.

Gary, 67, was scheduled for execution by lethal injection at 7 p.m. Thursday in the 1977 deaths of Florence Scheible, Martha Thurmond and Kathleen Woodruff in the Wynnton area of Columbus.

At about 9:45 p.m., the U.S. Supreme Court denied two appeals for a stay of execution presented to Justice Clarence Thomas and referred to the court. The court denied both petitions from Gary’s attorney.

The decision for Eggers came less than an hour before the 50-year-old Eggers was to die for the strangulation death of Bennie Francis Murray. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall released a statement at 8:32 p.m. after Eggers was the executed.

“Michael Eggers showed no mercy towards his victim, his former employer, Bennie Francis Murray, who donated much of her personal time to helping him find a new job,” Marshall said. “ On the night of her murder, Mrs. Murray gave Eggers a lift to pick up his car. Instead of showing her gratitude, Eggers rewarded her kindness by brutally beating and strangling her. He even returned to the scene of the crime to make sure she was dead. After 18 years of waiting, justice has finally been served tonight for the Murray family.”

Eggers was sentenced to die in the 2000 strangulation murder of Murray, who hired him to work at her concession business with a traveling carnival.

Eggers asked Alabama to quickly schedule his execution after a disagreement with his attorneys in 2016. His former attorneys asked to stop the execution because Eggers was mentally ill and made a decision to drop his appeals.

This story was originally published March 15, 2018 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Carlton Gary and Alabama deathrow inmate denied stay of execution by U.S. Supreme Court."