Mississippi execution one step closer as U.S. Supreme Court rejects stay
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- U.S. Supreme Court denies stay of execution for Mississippi inmate Richard Jordan.
- Federal judge wants execution halted if Jordan shows consciousness after midazolam dose.
- Mississippi must follow new protocol after past deviations in 2021 and 2022 cases.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a stay of execution for Richard Gerald Jordan, Mississippi’s longest-serving death row inmate, convicted in the execution-style slaying of a Gulfport banker’s wife.
The justices did not explain the ruling, but it came after they heard oral argument in the case last week.
Jordan is set for execution on Wednesday at the Mississippi state prison.
In January 1976, Jordan shot and killed Gulfport banker’s wife, Edwina Marter, during a kidnapping for ransom in South Mississippi.
Marter grew up in New Orleans and later met and married Charles “Chuck” Marter, a loan officer at Gulf National Bank.
The kidnapping occurred on Jan. 13, 1976, after Jordan called Gulf National Bank and asked to speak to a commercial loan officer and learned Charles Marter was the chief loan officer. Jordan looked up the couple’s address, then went to the home to kidnap Edwina Marter in exchange for a ransom.
Jordan has been on death row for 49 years.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling comes after U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate denied Jordan a preliminary injunction over the three-drug cocktail used to execute inmates in Mississippi.
Wingate has instructed the state to halt the execution if Jordan responds to a consciousness check four minutes after the first drug is injected.
The state did not follow the four-minute standard waiting period in its last two executions in 2021 and 2022, but has since assured the protocol would be followed for Jordan’s execution.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch had said the state planned to immediately restart the execution process if the consciousness check failed after the four-minute waiting period.
U.S District Judge Henry Wingate instructed the state to do otherwise. In his order, Wingate said, “This Court orders the State to stop Jordan’s execution if the first consciousness check reveals that Jordan is still conscious/sensate after the first 500 mg dose of midazolam”
In the event Jordan remains conscious, the judge ordered the state to halt the execution and wait for further instructions from his court.
This story was originally published June 21, 2025 at 2:04 PM.