Federal appeals court to reconsider motion to stay Tuesday execution of Missouri man

A federal appeals court will re-hear a motion to stay the execution of Johnny Johnson, who was scheduled to die by lethal injection on Aug. 1.

Johnson, 45, was granted a stay by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in a 2-1 decision announced Tuesday,

Attorneys for Johnson had argued that he suffers from mental illness so severe that he is incompetent to die by lethal injection. Going forward with the execution, they said, would violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office filed a motion for a re-hearing on the stay before the full court, which is composed of 11 judges.

Johnson was convicted in the attempted rape and killing of Casey Williamson, 6, in 2002 in St. Louis County.

During a psychiatric evaluation earlier this year, Johnson told Dr. Bhushan Agharkar that he believes he communicates with beings from another dimension he calls the “Underworld.” Johnson also believes is a vampire and may be able to “reanimate” his organs if he eats food before his execution, a report said.

Johnson told Agharkar that Satan is using the state of Missouri to kill him and end the world.

The attorney general’s office argued delaying the execution would harm both the State and victims. They also said a prison counselor determined that Johnson’s auditory hallucinations “are well managed by medication” and that he was not incompetent to be executed.

The state has executed three people this year: Amber McLaughlin, Leonard “Raheem” Taylor and Michael Tisius. Tisius was granted a stay by a federal judge on May 31. Two days later, the Eighth Circuit overturned the stay and Tisius was killed June 6.