TENN. KILLER A STEP CLOSER TO DEATH (Court Lifts Stay, Schedules Thursday Execution)  

PFMLIT General, SENTENCING, SEX OFFENDERS AND OTHERS WHO KILL, SEX OFFENDERS WHO KILL

Robert Glen Coe, 43, a convicted child rapist and killer is closer to becoming the first person executed in the state in 40 years.  A federal appeals court lifted the stay of execution.  The latest ruling in the legal death struggle, that has gone on for 19 years, could result in Coe being executed by lethal injection 1 a.m. Thursday at Riverbend Maximum Security Institute.  In 1981, Coe was sentenced to death for the kidnap, rape and murder of 8 year old Cary Ann Medlin.  The conviction was overturned in 1996 by Senior US Judge John Nixon, long criticized for vacating death sentences and delaying appeals on capital cases.  The 6th Circuit US Court of Appeals overruled him and reinstated the death sentence.

(Nashville, Tennessee)