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 Robert Pruett, 35, is scheduled to be put to death after 6 p.m.
Central Time at the state prison in Huntsville. If it is carried
out, Pruett will be the 525th inmate executed by Texas since the
U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, the most of
any state.
Pruett was already serving a life sentence in the killing of a
neighbor at age 15 when he was convicted of stabbing correctional
officer Daniel Nagle to death with a shank at a prison near
Beeville, Texas, according to court records.
Investigators found a torn up disciplinary note next to Nagle's
body. The note accused Pruett of breaking prison rules by taking a
sack lunch containing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich into a
prison recreation area, court records showed.
 Neither Pruett's blood nor his fingerprints were found on the murder
weapon, nor was Nagle's blood found on Pruett.
Attorneys for Pruett, who was convicted in 2002, have argued that he
lacked adequate legal representation at sentencing, no physical
evidence linked him to the crime and evidence was mishandled.
The attorneys also argued that "any number of people could have had
motive for wanting (Nagle) dead" because he was preparing to file a
grievance that detailed safety concerns and corruption at the
prison, according to court documents.
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Pruett's execution has been delayed twice since 2013 to allow
Pruett's attorneys to file appeals and for more DNA tests to be
conducted, according to court records. The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of
Appeals on Friday denied a request to halt the execution.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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