Missouri executes man for 15-year-old girl's 1989 killing

BONNE TERRE (AP) -- A man who spent nearly 25 years on Missouri's death row was executed Tuesday for the kidnapping, rape and fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old girl who was waiting for a school bus.

Roderick Nunley became the sixth inmate put to death in Missouri this year. During the lethal injection, the 50-year-old inmate's breathing became labored for a few seconds. He briefly opened his mouth before becoming still.

He was pronounced dead at 9:09 p.m. CDT.

"Despite openly admitting his guilt to the court, it has taken 25 years to get him to the execution chamber," Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said in a statement afterward. "Nunley's case offers a textbook example showing why society is so frustrated with a system that has become too cumbersome."

Of 20 executions nationally in 2015, all but four have been in Missouri and Texas. Nunley's execution was delayed by last-minute appeals from attorneys for death penalty opponents in Missouri questioning the competence of Nunley's lawyer.

Nunley made no final statement and no one witnessed his punishment on his behalf, although he visited earlier in the day with his daughter and a spiritual adviser.

Robert Harrison, the father of the girl killed, watched the execution along with the victim's uncle and two family friends.

The disappearance and death of Ann Harrison haunted the Kansas City area in March 1989. She was waiting for a school bus on her driveway, 20 yards from her front door, when Nunley and Michael Taylor drove by in a stolen car and made the spur-of-the-moment decision to abduct her.

Her body was found in the trunk of the abandoned car days later.

For the full story, see Wednesday's e-edition.