A judge in Tacoma has signed the death warrant for Spokane serial killer Robert Yates, setting an execution date of Sept. 19.

Yates’ defense lawyers are expected to immediately ask the state Supreme Court for a stay of execution so they can again appeal his sentence for killing two women in Pierce County. The high court ruled last year that Yates received a fair trial and his death sentence in 2002 was legal.

The former smelter worker and Army National Guard pilot previously pleaded guilty in Spokane to killing 13 women. He avoided the death penalty with a plea deal and got a sentence of 408 years in prison.

Washington utilizes two methods of execution: lethal injection and hanging. Lethal injection is used unless the inmate chooses hanging as the preferred execution method.

77 inmates have been executed in Washington since 1904, the last being murderer James Elledge in Snohomish County in 2001.