Prosecutor on Bucklew case speaks out on pending execution

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - There are new details on the planned execution of Russell Bucklew, the man behind a brutal Cape Girardeau County crime spree in 1996.

Bucklew’s execution date is scheduled for Oct. 1. Advocates are speaking out against it.

Bucklew is set to die for killing Michael Sanders in March 1996, then kidnapping and raping his ex-girlfriend, who was dating Sanders at the time.

He's been granted a stay before. Twice because of a rare medical condition that his attorneys argue would cause Bucklew to suffer if he dies by lethal injection.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against him last fall.

Morley Swingle who prosecuted Bucklew said it appears Bucklew's only chance of avoiding the death penalty is to be granted clemency by Governor Mike Parson.

Swingle will be a witness to Bucklew’s execution.

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