WILKES-BARRE, Pa., Feb. 28 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania judge has barred the execution of convicted killer George Banks, saying the man is too mentally ill to understand, a report said.
The 63-year-old former prison guard had been sentenced to death for a 1982 shooting spree that killed 13 people, five of them his own children.
"Banks cannot make rational choices because of his major mental illness, cannot rationally comprehend his death sentences, has a hopeless prognosis and will not improve to any acceptable degree," Judge Michael Conahan wrote in Monday's ruling.
Prosecutors, however, said they would appeal the Luzerne County, Pa., ruling to the state Supreme Court, the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Times-Leader reported.
"It simply puts his execution on hold, District Attorney Dave Lupas said. "It does absolutely nothing to change the conviction or death sentence."
