A reported execution failure has left another man’s fate hanging in the balance. According to the New York Post report cited by news outlet Newsner, Tennessee halted its remaining executions after Christa Pike reportedly survived two lethal injection attempts. For Gary Wayne Sutton, the pause means more time—but behind his reprieve lies a family’s devastating story of murd…
Gary Wayne Sutton’s December 3 execution has been postponed, according to Newsner’s account of reporting by the New York Post. The report says Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspended executions for the remainder of the year following problems during Christa Pike’s scheduled September 30 execution. No date for resuming executions is given. For Sutton, who has maintained his innocence, the decision delays his punishment without overturning his conviction or resolving the case.
The killings described in the account date to February 1992. Sutton and his uncle, James Dellinger, posted bail for Tommy Griffin after his arrest for public intoxication. Roughly half an hour later, witnesses heard gunshots near where Griffin was subsequently found dead. His sister, Connie Branam, later disappeared while searching for him with the two men; her body was discovered in a burned car. Both men received death sentences. Dellinger died of natural causes on death row.