Tennessee is preparing to execute Tony Carruthers, whose defenders question trial fairness

Tennessee is scheduled to execute Tony Carruthers on Thursday after his attorneys questioned whether the state’s lethal injection drugs had expired and courts denied requests to test DNA and fingerprint evidence or to deem him mentally incompetent.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee is scheduled to execute Tony Carruthers on Thursday after his attorneys questioned whether the state’s lethal injection drugs had expired and courts denied requests to test DNA and fingerprint evidence or to deem him mentally incompetent.

Subscribe to read this story ad-free

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

Tony Carruthers, 57, was sentenced to death after being found guilty of the 1994 kidnappings and murders of Marcellos Anderson; his mother, Delois Anderson; and Frederick Tucker. He was forced to represent himself at trial repeatedly complaining about court-appointed attorneys and threatening to harm several of them.

There was no physical evidence tying Carruthers to the killings, and he was convicted primarily on the basis of testimony from people who claimed to have heard him confess to or discuss the crimes.