Man executed after 25 years on death row

A man who spent nearly 25 years on death row for the kidnapping, rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl has been executed in Missouri.

Roderick Nunley, 50, had admitted his guilt in court and on Tuesday Missouri Governor Jay Nixon denied a clemency request - filed by opponents of the death penalty - which argued that a plea deal had been refused because of racial bias.

In March 1989, Ann Harrison disappeared in Kansas City while waiting for a school bus on her driveway.

Nunley and Michael Taylor made a spur-of-the-moment decision to abduct her after driving by in a stolen car.

Ann's body was found in the boot of the abandoned car three days later.

Both men were sentenced to death in 1991. Taylor was executed last year.

Chris Koster, Missouri Attorney General, said in a statement: "Despite openly admitting his guilt to the court, it has taken 25 years to get him to the execution chamber.

"Nunley's case offers a textbook example showing why society is so frustrated with a system that has become too cumbersome."

The clemency appeal had argued that Nunley would have been sentenced to life in prison without parole if he had been granted a plea deal.

Nunley and Taylor were both black, while their victim was white.

The US Supreme Court denied several appeals by lawyers representing Nunley, including one which stated that the death penalty amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

Pete Edlund, a retired Kansas City detective, told Associated Press news agency: "They just take forever to do the deed.

"The delay in executing these two is just nuts because it didn't have anything to do with their guilt. It was legal mumbo jumbo nonsense."

According to prosecutors, Nunley and Taylor had taken cocaine when they stole a car on 22 March, 1989.

At one point, a police officer had chased the car from Lee Summit, but was called off after it crossed into Kansas City.

They kidnapped Ann and took her to Nunley's mother's home, where they raped her and then stabbed her repeatedly in the stomach and neck.

Nunley and Taylor were arrested after a man in jail for a robbery turned them in. Some of Ann's hair was found in carpet at the home where they attacked her.

(Sky News)