South Carolina prepares for third execution since September

South Carolina is preparing to execute the third inmate to be put to death since September.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina is preparing to execute the third inmate to be put to death since September as the state goes through a backlog of prisoners who exhausted their appeals while the state couldn’t find lethal injection drugs.

Marion Bowman Jr.’s execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at a Columbia prison. Bowman, 44, was convicted of murder in the shooting death of a friend whose burned body was found in the trunk of a car.

Bowman has maintained his innocence since his arrest. His lawyers said he was convicted on the word of several friends and relatives who received deals or had charges dropped by prosecutors in exchange for their testimony.

Marion Bowman Jr. South Carolina Department of Corrections / APBowman, who has been on death row more than half his life, was offered a plea deal for a life sentence but went to trial because he said he was not guilty.

Friday’s execution will follow the state lifting a 13-year pause caused in part because state officials could not obtain lethal injection drugs. The General Assembly passed a shield law and prison officials were able to find a compounding pharmacy willing to make the pentobarbital if its identity wasn’t made public.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/south-carolina-prepares-third-execution-september-rcna190123

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