Terminally ill man executed in Oklahoma
Terminally ill man executed in Oklahoma

Published: June 26, 2007

McALESTER (AP) - A terminally ill Oklahoma death row inmate was executed Tuesday after his final appeal for a reprieve was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jimmy Dale Bland, a two-time killer who shot his 62-year-old employer in the back of the head 11 years ago, became the second person executed by the state this year.

Bland, 49, was terminally ill with advanced lung cancer that spread to his brain and his hip bone, according to his attorney, David Autry. Bland received radiation and chemotherapy treatment, and his doctors said he had as little as six months to live.

Autry had warned that Bland's execution could have been a catastrophe if the veins in his arms were compromised by his chemotherapy treatments before a lethal dose of chemicals were injected as part of the execution process.

Bland died at 6:19 p.m., said Oklahoma Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie.

Autry had asked the Supreme Court to block Bland's execution and decide whether executing a terminally ill inmate violates the Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The court denied the request late Tuesday afternoon, said Charlie Price, spokesman for the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office.