A Missouri man facing execution next month has been hospitalized, advocates said Friday.
David Hosier is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 11.
Rev. Jeff Hood, his spiritual advisor, sister Barbara Merrill and leaders with Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, said the 69 year old was hospitalized this week with heart failure.
Hood said he spoke with Hosier on Wednesday and he “sounded just horrible, very labored.”
“He’s dying,” Hood said, adding that the question now was how quickly.
Hosier is incarcerated at Potosi Correctional Center, about 70 miles south of St. Louis. Days before an execution, prisoners are transferred to the nearby Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, which houses the state’s execution chamber.
It’s unclear if any litigation regarding Hosier’s upcoming execution will be filed in the wake of his health condition. Attorney Jeremy Weis said they are waiting on additional information.
“We are continuing to gather records and once we have a handle on his diagnosis and treatment plan then we will make litigation decisions,” Weis said.
Hosier was convicted of first-degree murder in the September 2009 shooting of Angela Gilpin, 45, in Jefferson City. She was found alongside her husband Rodney Gilpin, 61, who was also slain.
Angela Gilpin had been in a romantic relationship with Hosier while she was separated from her husband, but they were reconciling, The Columbia Daily Tribune reported at the time.
Missouri has ramped up its use of capital punishment, executing four people last year. Brian Dorsey, 52, was executed in April.
