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Arizona to execute convicted murderer

Eric John King is set to die by lethal injection at 10 a.m. MST Tuesday at the state prison in Florence

By Amanda Lee Myers
Associated Press

FLORENCE, Arizona -- Prison officials in Arizona are preparing to execute a 47-year-old man for a double-murder during a Phoenix convenience store robbery that netted $72.

Eric John King is set to die by lethal injection at 10 a.m. MST (1600 GMT) Tuesday at the state prison in Florence. He is one of the last Arizona death-row inmates to be killed with a three-drug cocktail after state officials said last week they will switch to a single-drug method.

The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday declined to stop King’s execution.

King was convicted of shooting and killing security guard Richard Butts and convenience store clerk Ron Barman two days after Christmas in 1989.

King has maintained his innocence since his arrest. His lawyers question the state’s execution procedures and say there is “substantial doubt” about King’s guilt.