Killer’s execution stopped after his priest is excluded
Murphy A DEATH row execution was halted at the 11th hour because a Buddhist monk was denied entry to the execution chamber.
Patrick Murphy, who converted to Buddhism after being sentenced to death, had his lethal jab put on hold after lawyers claimed his religious rights were being violated.
Only jail employees are allowed in the chamber at Huntsville state prison in Texas – but only Christian and Muslim clerics are employed.
It meant the Reverend Hui-Yong Shih was blocked from being with Murphy in his final moments. He had been due for the jab at 6pm on Thursday, but the Supreme Court blocked the execution that night.
In the court ruling Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote: “Discrimination against religious persons, religious organisations, and religious speech violates the Constitution.”
Murphy’s lawyer, David Dow, said: “We are pleased the Court acknowledged Mr Murphy is entitled to be accompanied in the execution chamber by a minister of his own faith.”
Murphy, 57, was sentenced to death in 2003 after being convicted over the fatal shooting of police officer Aubrey Hawkins, 29, by a gang of prison escapees. Murphy claimed he was only the getaway driver and was not the one who shot the officer.
He was serving a 50-year term for aggravated sexual assault when he and six others broke out of a maximum security jail in Kenedy, Texas, in 2000.
Murphy claimed his death was “vengeance”.
The execution is on hold as the ruling is reviewed.
Judges were slammed last month after they refused to block the execution of a Muslim inmate in Alabama despite him being denied an imam.