Miss. to execute butcher in dismemberment death


Posted: Jun 16, 2012 7:10 PM Updated: Jun 16, 2012 7:10 PM



By HOLBROOK MOHR
Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi is preparing to execute a grocery store butcher convicted of dismembering a man over a drug debt and raping a woman he locked in a metal box.

Gary Carl Simmons Jr. is scheduled for execution Wednesday in the 1996 killing of Jeffery Wolfe, whose body was found in a south Mississippi bayou in 1996. Simmons also was convicted of kidnapping and raping Wolfe's female friend, who was 18 at the time, and sentenced to two life terms on those charges. The Associated Press does not generally identify the victims of sex crimes.

If Simmons is executed, he will become the sixth Mississippi inmate put to death this year. The Mississippi Supreme Court declined Thursday to delay the execution in a 6-2 decision. Simmons' lawyers had requested a two-week delay, saying more time is needed for two mental health evaluations and an appeal based on their results. The court gave no explanation for its ruling.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
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