Supreme Court Blocks Scheduled Texas Execution Next Week
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A condemned Texas inmate set to die next week for a quadruple murder more than 30 years ago in North Texas has received a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The high court, in a brief order Thursday, indefinitely put off the lethal injection of 67-year-old Lester Bower Jr.
The justices gave no reason for the ruling, saying only the reprieve would be lifted if they deny his appeals to the court or act on his appeals.
Bower is among the longest-serving Texas death row inmates. He was scheduled for execution Tuesday.
Bower's attorney says the issues considered by the justices are whether jury selection was fair, are there mitigating facts, and cruel and unusual punishment.
He was convicted of fatally shooting four men in 1983 at an airplane hangar on a Grayson County ranch.
The victims included a county sheriff's deputy and a former Sherman police officer.
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