A Missouri inmate executed on Tuesday evening wrote a haunting final statement before being executed by lethal injection.
Michael Tisius, 42, was given the lethal injection of pentobarbital at Missouri State Prison in Bonne Terre, and pronounced dead at 6.10pm on Tuesday, June 6, according to authorities. He was sentenced to death for shooting and killing two prison officers two decades ago during a failed attempt to help an inmate friend escape a rural jail.
In his final statement, Tisius said he was "holding tightly to [his] faith" and that he "really did try to become a better man."
His last meal before the execution reportedly consisted of two bacon cheeseburgers, curly fries, regular fries and a chocolate milkshake, according to a Missouri Department of Corrections spokesperson.
His last statement read: "I am holding tightly to my faith. It's all I have to take with me.
"I am sorry it had to come to this in this way. I wish I could have made things right while I was still here. I really did try to become a better man.
"I really tried hard to give as much as I could to as many as I could. I tried to forgive others as I wish to be forgiven. And I pray that God will forgive those who condemn me. Just as He forgave those who condemned Him.
"I am sorry. And not because I am at the end. But because I truly am sorry.
"And I need to say that I love you Truffle. Seacrest Out!"
Shortly after midnight on June 22, 2000, Tisius went to the county jail in Huntsville, Alabama, where he had met inmate Roy Vance while serving a misdemeanour charge in the same jail aged 18. He went to the jail with Vance's girlfriend, Tracie Bulington.
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Once there, the pair told prison guards Leon Egley and Jason Acton they were there to deliver cigarettes to Vance. The guards had no idea Tisius was carrying a pistol.
He proceeded to shoot and kill Mr Acton, going on to shoot Mr Egley when he then approached. Tisius found keys but couldn't open Vance's cell. Mr Egley, who was still alive, grabbed Bulington's leg, at which point Tisius shot him several more times.
The pair fled the scene after the botched prison break, but their car broke down later that day. They were arrested in Wathena, Kansas, around 130 miles west of Huntsville.
Tisius confessed to the crimes. Both Bulington and Vance are serving life sentences on murder convictions.
When the jury was asked to sentence Tisius for his crimes, they spent several hours deliberating in July 2010 before coming to the decision that he should face the death penalty.
The execution was carried out after much debate, including from Tisius' own lawyers who urged the US Supreme Court to block the execution. His lawyers launched appeals, which alleged a juror at a sentencing hearing was illiterate in English - a violation of Missouri law.
Another argument had previously been turned down by the Supreme Court that said Tisius should be spared the death penalty as he was just 19 when the killings happened. A 2005 Supreme Court ruling bars executions for those under 18 when their crime took place.
Attorneys for Tisius argued that even at the age of 19 when the killings happened, Tisius should have his sentence commuted to life in prison without parole. Those advocating for him say he was neglected as a child and homeless by his early teens, and he's described as being childlike and young for his age when the killings happened.
Tisius' defense team even issued a video where Vance said he had planned the escape and manipulated Tisius into participating. In a clemency petition to Missouri Governor Michael Parson, there's a quote from Vance saying: "I manipulated Mike for my own benefit and if it weren't for me and Tracie, Michael wouldn't have done this. He was just a kid. This is my fault. It only happened because of me."
Tisius is the 12th person to be executed in the US this year, and the third in Missouri. Only Texas has executed more people than Missouri this year, with four executions having been carried out.
