A man convicted of killing a country preacher during a 1991 robbery was put to death by lethal injection in Alabama on Thursday, weeks after he avoided another execution date amid disagreements between US Supreme Court justices. Christopher Lee Price, 46, became the second inmate put to death in Alabama in two weeks. The execution was carried out at Holman prison, where he was pronounced dead at 7:31pm, the AP reports. Convicted in the killing of Bill Lynn, a north Alabama pastor slain just days before Christmas, Price released a statement of apology through his attorney before the execution. "A man is much more than his worst mistake," he said while strapped to a gurney moments before the drugs began flowing.
Price was convicted of using a sword and dagger to fatally stab Lynn, a Church of Christ pastor, as he prepared Christmas gifts for his grandchildren. Lynn's wife was beaten, robbed, and stabbed. Relatives of both Price and Lynn were among the witnesses as the inmate was put to death shortly after the US Supreme Court rejected a final request for a stay. The execution was delayed by more than an hour while the state awaited the court's decision, a prison official said. Price sought a stay based on a challenge to the state's method of using three drugs during lethal injections. The nation's highest court, by a 5-4 vote, refused to halt the execution Thursday night. The conservative majority did not give a reason for denying the stay. (Alabama executed another man two weeks ago.)