Missouri Man Executed for Killing 2 Jailers During Failed Bid to Help Inmate Escape in 2000
BONNE TERRE, Mo.—A Missouri man who shot and killed two jailers nearly 23 years ago during a failed bid to help an acquaintance escape from a rural jail was executed Tuesday evening.
Michael Tisius, 42, received a lethal injection of pentobarbital at the state prison in Bonne Terre and was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m., authorities said. He was convicted of the June 22, 2000, killings of Leon Egley and Jason Acton at the small Randolph County Jail.
Tisius breathed hard a few times as the drug was administered, then fell silent. His spiritual adviser, Melissa Potts-Bowers, was in the room with him. Because the execution chamber is surrounded by soundproof glass, it’s not known what they were saying to each other….