Pennsylvania governor stays execution of killer, citing shortage of lethal drugs

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Pennsylvania governor stays execution of killer, citing shortage of lethal drugs

By David DeKok HARRISBURG Pa. (Reuters) - Pennsylvania's governor granted a reprieve to a condemned murderer on death row on Friday because the state did not have the drugs needed to put him to death. Governor Tom Corbett granted the temporary reprieve for Hubert Michael, 58, who was scheduled for execution by lethal injection on Sept. 22 for the 1994 murder of 16-year-old Trista Eng. "Today's signing of the temporary reprieve was necessary to allow the Department of Corrections to complete its acquisition of the injection agents required to carry out lethal injection as mandated by Pennsylvania law," the governor's office said. Botched executions in Oklahoma and other states have been blamed on a new drug combination used to replace traditional execution drugs in short supply after various manufacturers, especially in Europe, refused to supply prisons because they oppose capital punishment.

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