Facing Bloody Execution, Prisoner Presses Human Rights Claim

A longtime Missouri death row prisoner with a rare medical condition has “continued to deteriorate” and “continues to be at a very high risk of choking to death on his own blood during an execution,” according to a declaration from the doctor who evaluated him last week.

Facing an Oct. 1 execution that he and his supporters say will almost certainly amount to torture, Russell Bucklew could face such a brutal end due to “the rupturing of the blood-filled tumors in his throat,” the declaration dated Tuesday from Dr. Joel Zivot said.

“In such a circumstance, Mr. Bucklew would experience ...