CORSICANA, Texas -- A death row inmate scheduled for execution next Monday for killing a 75-year-old man whose house he had burglarized has been denied a stay by a state district judge.
The application for a stay for Joseph Paul Jernigan was denied Monday by state District Judge Kevin Douglas.
Next Monday's execution date is the first set for Jernigan, 30, of Waco, Texas.
He was convicted of the July 3, 1981, murder of Edward Hale of Dawson, Texas.
Hale, 75, was stabbed and shot to death after a robbery at his home. Jernigan said in a statement to authorities he killed Hale because he was afraid the man would identify him.
Jernigan's accomplice, Roy Dean Lamb of Corsicana, Texas, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The application for a stay and a writ of habeas corpus were filed last week by attorney Rusty Duncan, who contended Jernigan received incompetent counsel at his trial and that to execute him would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
The stay request now goes to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
