USA TODAY's Joan Biskupic reports that the Supreme Court has denied a stay of execution for John Allen Muhammad, the Beltway sniper.

Update at 12:55 p.m. ET: Muhammad, 48, was convicted of masterminding the October 2002 random sniper killings that paralyzed the nation's capital.

Muhammad and a minor, Lee Boyd Malvo, now 24, were convicted of going on a three-week shooting spree that left 10 people dead and three injured.

The snipers fired at random at bystanders through a hole in the trunk of their car.

Update the 1 p.m. ET: Muhammad is scheduled to be executed in Virginia on Tuesday night.

Update at 1:05 p.m. ET: On a procedural matter, three justices wrote a separate statement -- not to dissent but to raise concerns about how the state case arrived at the court's doorstep in this emergency fashion before the court had fully reviewed any constitutional challenge by Muhammad to his case (in a habeas petition).

Justices John Paul Stevens, joined by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, wrote:

By denying Muhammad's stay application, we have allowed Virginia to truncate our deliberative process on a matter -- involving a death row inmate -- that demands the most careful attention. This result is particularly unfortunate in light of the limited time Muhammad was given to make his case in the district court. … I do not dissent from the Court's decision to deny certiorari. I do, however, remain firmly convinced that no state should be allowed to foreshorten this Court's orderly review of … first-time habeas petitions by executing prisoners before that review can be completed.

(Posted by Doug Stanglin)