Executions in Oklahoma still on hold

The number of death row inmates who have exhausted all their appeals has grown to 16, with still no plan in place to begin executions again.

The latest inmate to become eligible for an execution date is murderer Richard Norman Rojem Jr., who kidnapped, raped and fatally stabbed a 7-year-old girl in 1984.

Rojem, now 59, was first convicted and sentenced in 1985. He was resentenced — twice — after successful appeals.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined, without comment, to review Rojem's final appeal of his punishment.