Missouri Executes Man Convicted of Raping and Killing a Kansas City Teenager

Missouri executed a man Wednesday convicted of abducting, raping and killing a Kansas City girl in 1989 after his last-minute appeal was rejected.

Michael Anthony Taylor, 47, was given a lethal injection just after midnight and was pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m. a Missouri Department of Public Safety spokesperson said. The U.S. Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and Governor Jay Nixon refused him clemency.

The court convicted Taylor and his accomplice Roderick Nunley of raping and murdering 15-year-old Ann Harrison in 1989. Taylor pleaded guilty in 1991. The Kansas City Star had a telephonic conversation with Taylor a few hours before the execution. He said that he had written a letter to Harrisson's parents apologizing for his act. Jail authorities assured him that the letter would be given to them. "I hope that they'll accept it," Taylor said of the letter.

Taylor's attorneys previously argued that the unnamed compounding pharmacy to provide the pentobarbital for his execution would cause him brutal pain and suffering. However, after Taylor was given the lethal dose, no signs of agony were observed, reports the Associated Press. Furthermore, they said that the state executes inmates even before the courts give verdict on the appeals and that Taylor's original attorney was so overloaded with work that she urged him to plead guilty so that her workload would be lessened.

However, Pete Edlund, a 69-year-old Kansas City police detective, who investigated the Harrison case, dismissed the arguments. "Cruel and unusual punishment would be if we killed them the same way they killed Annie Harrison," Edlund said. "Get a damn rope, string them up, put them in the gas chamber. Whatever it takes."

Taylor and his partner in crime Nunley abducted Harrison, March 22, 1989, when she was waiting for her school bus. Nunley and Taylor, who were in their early twenties, were in a stolen car and had taken cocaine the previous night. They forcefully took Harrison in the car and went to Nunley's mother's house. The duo put Harrison in the basement. DNA results revealed Taylor raped Harrison. Nunley had denied rape allegations. He also said that killing her was Taylor's idea. However, Taylor said Nunley forced him to kill her.

After murdering her with kitchen knives they put the body in the trunk of the car and abandoned it. The body was found three days later, reports AP.

According to Edlund, the case disturbed even the senior officers. "She just turned 15," the retired detective said. "It was a tragedy all the way around. This was an innocent child."

After the execution the Taylor family issued a statement Tuesday night, reports the Kansas City star.

Last November, Missouri adopted the single drug pentobarbital for execution. Since then the state has executed four people, including Taylor.

The family of Michael Anthony Taylor would like to express their gratitude to all of those who supported Michael over the years. It may be a small victory for the State of Missouri but Michael has won in the end. He has struggled for years with the guilt of not stopping a horrendous crime, and has dedicated much of his time in prison to the memory of Ann Harrison through his work with hospice, tutoring and mentoring inside and outside the prison walls. Those heartfelt accomplishments will accompany him into the gates of Heaven where he will be joined by his family and beloved angel."

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