John Winfield, 46: Executed June 18 in Missouri

Winfield was convicted of fatally shooting two women, and of shooting and blinding his ex-girlfriend during a confrontation in a St. Louis suburb in 1996.

His death warrant was issued in May and he was executed shortly after midnight on June 18 after his last minute appeals failed.

Until the botched execution in Oklahoma, Missouri had been carrying out an execution each month since November .

In at least one case, an inmate was executed with an appeal still pending. Convicted murderer Herbert Smulls, 56, was executed Jan. 29, shortly before his final appeal was denied.

The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily stayed Missouri’s execution of rapist and murderer Russell Bucklew, 45, in May pending consideration of his case by the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. Bucklew’s attorneys had argued that he suffers from a chronic condition that causes tumors which could burst and bleed during lethal injection or interfere with the drugs. That would cause a prolonged and painful death, they argued, in violation of the Constitution’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.

One of Bucklew’s attorneys told The Times she also feared a repeat of the botched execution in Oklahoma last month. After convicted rapist and murderer Clayton Lockett, 38, was given a new three-drug lethal injection April 29, he writhed and made sounds, then took 43 minutes to die, a witness told The Times. Oklahoma’s governor, facing a backlash, halted the next scheduled execution pending a review of state procedures.

Oklahoma had already seen another recent botched execution. As convicted murderer Michael Wilson, 38, was executed Jan. 9, he complained, “I feel my whole body burning.”

Missouri’s attorney general has insisted officials there can manage executions humanely, as has Gov. Jay Nixon, who denied Bucklew clemency.

It’s not clear how soon Bucklew’s case could be reconsidered by the lower court. While his execution is stayed, it is also unclear what effect the case may have on Winfield and other condemned Missouri inmates.

Photo credit: Missouri Department of Corrections