Execution delayed for man convicted in woman's 1997 killing

NEW ORLEANS - The Louisiana Supreme Court has delayed the planned execution of a man convicted of beating and stabbing a 71-year-old woman to death while robbing her home in 1997.

The court agreed Wednesday to indefinitely postpone the March 14 execution date that a state judge had set for Daniel Blank.

Blank's attorney, Gary Clements, says it was "totally premature" to schedule the execution because his client hasn't exhausted his appeal options in state court.

The state corrections department said in a statement Monday that it doesn't have the drugs necessary to carry out Blank's execution.

Blank was accused of killing six people during a 10-month period in 1996 and 1997. In 2007, the state Supreme Court upheld his conviction and death sentence for Lillian Phillipe's killing.