Richard Albert Leavitt
The nation’s highest court on Monday afternoon rejected an appeal by an Idaho man facing execution on Tuesday.
Convicted killer Richard Leavitt is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection Tuesday. The notice of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision is now posted on the Idaho Supreme Court’s Web site.
Idaho prison officials say convicted killer Richard Leavitt is calm and meeting with his attorneys and a few visitors on the day before his execution.
Sentenced in 1985, Leavitt is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection Tuesday morning at a state prison south of Boise.
Idaho Department of Correction officials have been preparing for weeks for the execution, just the second in Idaho in 17 years.
Leavitt was convicted in the 1984 stabbing of 31-year-old Danette Elg, of Blackfoot. Leavitt – along with some members of his family – insists he is innocent. But lawyers have lost and all but exhausted their attempts to appeal his conviction and sentence.
IDOC Spokesman Jeff Ray says Leavitt has ordered baked chicken, french fries and milk for his last meal. (AP)
