A man who killed two people in a drug dispute and a sheriff's deputy in a subsequent shootout was put to death Wednesday in what could be Missouri's last execution for some time.
Earl Forrest died by injection for the December 2002 deaths of Harriett Smith, Michael Wells and Dent County Sheriff's Deputy JoAnn Barnes. The 66-year-old Forrest declined to make a final statement.
As his execution began, he mouthed words to his adult daughter who was among the witnesses. He stopped speaking within seconds of being injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital, but showed no outward signs of distress.
He was pronounced dead minutes later.
'We know this execution will not bring JoAnn back, but it destroyed an evil person that otherwise would be still walking this earth,' the deputy's family members said in a statement in which they also described Barnes as a pillar of her rural community and a major influence in establishing a fire department there and later serving as its chief.
Earl Forrest, convicted of killing two people in a drug dispute and a sheriff's deputy in a subsequent shootout, was put to death Wednesday in what could be Missouri's last execution for some time
While at Smith's home, an argument ensued, and Forrest shot Wells in the face. He shot Smith six times and took a lockbox full of meth valued at $25,000
The execution was delayed about an hour, partly because of severe weather in the area. Tornado sirens sounded at one point.
According to court documents, Forrest had been drinking when he went to Smith's home in the southern Missouri town of Salem and demanded that she fulfill her promise to buy a lawn mower and mobile home for him in exchange for introducing her to a source for methamphetamine.
Wells was visiting Smith at the time. An argument ensued, and Forrest shot Wells in the face. He shot Smith six times and took a lockbox full of meth valued at $25,000.
When police converged on Forrest's home, he shot Barnes and Dent County Sheriff Bob Wofford, according to court documents.
Forrest was also shot in the exchange of gunfire, along with his girlfriend, Angela Gamblin. Wofford and Gamblin survived.
Just hours before the scheduled execution, the U.S. Supreme Court and Democratic Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declined to stop it.
Nixon denied a clemency request, and the high court refused to grant a stay of execution.
Nixon said in a statement: 'The clemency petition for Earl M. Forrest has been reviewed thoroughly, and I have subsequently received a final briefing from my counsel.
'After deliberate consideration to the merits of the petition and the facts of this case, I have denied this petition.
'This is a power of the Governor that I take very seriously, and great consideration is given to the specific facts of each case.
'Earl Forrest was convicted by a jury of murdering three people and sentenced to death on each count.
Forrest died for the December 2002 deaths of Michael Wells (left) and Harriett Smith (right), along with Dent County Sheriff's Deputy Joann Barnes
Victim Dent County Sheriff's Deputy Joann Barnes is seen in this photograph
'Among his victims was Dent County Chief Deputy Sheriff Joann Barnes, whom Forrest killed after he had already murdered Harriett Smith and Michael Wells.
'During the shootout with law enforcement officers, Forrest also shot and wounded then-Dent County Sheriff Bob Wofford.
'My decision today upholds the decision handed down by the jury and upheld by the state and federal courts.
'As preparations are made to carry out the sentence, I ask that Missourians remember Chief Deputy Barnes, Harriett Smith and Michael Wells at this time and keep their families in their thoughts and prayers.'
Forrest's attorney, Kent Gipson, had asked the court to halt the execution on grounds that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment.
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster countered that the Supreme Court has already resolved that debate.
The sentencing jury didn't hear about Forrest's prior brain injury, Lance Sandage, another attorney for Forrest, told Missourinet.
Sandage told the website: 'PET scans that were conducted showed that.
'That has really been the thrust of Mr. Forrest's claim through post-conviction, was trial counsel's failure to properly litigate that in the penalty phase of his trial.'
According to St. Louis Public Radio, The Killer Speaks, an A&E show, had an episode about Forrest.
Missouri has been one of the most prolific states for executions in recent years, second only to Texas. The state has executed 18 prisoners since November 2013, including six last year. Forrest would be the first in 2016.
Missouri's death row population is dwindling. Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, said juries today are less likely to opt for capital punishment, in part because of greater awareness of how mental illness sometimes factors in violent crime.
A&E show The Killer Speaks had an episode about Forrest (seen left and right)
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ShareJust 49 people were sentenced to death nationally last year, the fewest since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty as a possible punishment in 1976. No one was sentenced to death in Missouri in 2014 or 2015, Dunham said.
'As these executions take place, fewer and fewer people are being sentenced to death, so the death penalty is withering on the other end,' Dunham said.
None of the 25 other men on Missouri's death row face imminent execution.
Sixteen have yet to exhaust court appeals and aren't likely to do so anytime soon. Execution is on hold for nine others. Two were declared mentally unfit for execution. Two were granted stays because of medical conditions that could cause painful deaths during lethal injection.
Two had sentences set aside by the courts due to trial attorney errors. One inmate was granted a stay while his innocence claim is reviewed. One case was sent back to a lower court to consider an appeal.
And in one unusual case, inmate William Boliek was granted a stay by Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan in 1997. The case wasn't resolved before Carnahan died in a 2000 plane crash, and a court determined that only Carnahan could overturn the stay. Nixon's office has said Boliek will not be executed.
Executions nationally are on the decline. In 1999, 98 people were executed. That fell to just 28 in 2015 - a 24-year low - and 13 so far in 2016.
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