Time running out for Arthur

Barring a last-minute stay of execution, convicted murderer Tommy Arthur's final hours will follow standard procedure.

Brian Corbett, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections, said Arthur, who also is identified as Holman Prison inmate Z-427, was moved Tuesday from death row, where he has been for the past 24 years, to an isolated cell adjacent to the execution chamber.

He is scheduled for execution at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Arthur, 65, was sentenced to die Feb. 19, 1983, for the 1982 shooting death of Troy Wicker, of Muscle Shoals. His conviction was overturned twice, but both times a jury found him guilty of capital murder, the final time in 1991.

New York attorney Suhana Han said Tuesday she had filed a supplemental brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider Arthur's request for a stay based on recent action by the court.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider the constitutionality of lethal injection from a Kentucky death penalty case.

According to published reports, the type of lethal injection in question is the same type used by all states that utilize lethal injections, including Alabama.

The Kentucky case involves two death-row inmates who claim lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. The inmates claim a condemned prisoner who is not given enough anesthetic could suffer pain without being able to let anyone know because of paralyses caused by a drug that is administered before the lethal injection.

Han believes a decision on the appeal could come before Thursday.

Clay Crenshaw, of the Alabama Attorney General's Office, said he is unsure whether the Kentucky case would affect Arthur's case.

While the appeals await review, Arthur's daughter, Sherrie Stone, continues to hope her father's executed will be stopped.

"We still think there is a chance," she said recently from her home in Tampa, Fla.

Meanwhile, Arthur will remain under 24-hour surveillance in his new cell.

Corbett said Arthur will be allowed to visit with approved family and friends today and until 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Inmates with little or no family often receive visits from volunteers with Kairos Prison Ministry or other clergy, department of corrections officials said.

Corbett said an inmate can request a last meal from the cafeteria, and the cooks can try to meet the request.

Corbett said some inmates have requested a last meal from a catfish restaurant down the street from Holman, but most last meals come from a vending machine in the prison's visiting area, which have selections such as chicken and barbecue sandwiches.

Arthur will be taken to the death chamber about 5:30 p.m. Thursday and receive the medical procedures in preparation for the execution, Corbett said.

He said certified emergency medical technicians will insert an intravenous line into Arthur's arm, and at 6 p.m., the prison warden will administer the death procedure, which consists of seven syringes.

After execution, Arthur's body will be claimed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, which either returns the body to the state or releases it to family members for burial.

Arthur would be the first inmate in Lauderdale, Colbert or Franklin counties to be executed, according to an Alabama Department of Corrections list of executions.

Arthur's attorneys have filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court asking for the DNA collected in the case to be tested to "prove if (Arthur) was there or not."

Wicker's widow, Judy Wicker, originally said a black man broke into her home, raped and beat her and that when she came to, her husband was dead.

Wicker later testified she hired Arthur to kill her husband.

DNA evidence was collected during the investigation but DNA testing did not exist at that time.

Stone said her father has been trying to get the DNA tested for years.

A spokesman for Gov. Bob Riley said last week that the governor and his legal staff had thoroughly reviewed the case and have no plans to intercede in the execution.

Stone said Tuesday in an e-mail that she was traveling to Montgomery on Wednesday in hopes of meeting with Riley face-to-face.

Bernie Delinski can be reached at 740-5739 or bernie.delinski@timesdaily.com. Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@timesdaily.com.

Montgomery Bureau Chief Dana Beyerle contributed to this report.