Condemned inmate's appeals fail

POTOSI, Mo. -- A Kansas City man convicted of what prosecutors called a cold-blooded, execution-style killing was set to be put to death early today after both Gov. Bob Holden and the federal courts rejected last-minute reprieves.

Holden declined to grant executive clemency late Tuesday night to William R. Jones Jr., shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Jones' request for a stay of execution. Earlier Tuesday, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis declined to issue a stay or accept last-minute appeals filed on Jones' behalf.

Jones, of Kansas City, was scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. today at the Potosi Correctional Center. He would be the sixth Missouri inmate put to death this year.

One of Jones' current attorneys, Charlie Rogers, said the lawyers who represented Jones at his murder trial were inept. One was an alleged alcoholic who has since been disbarred. Another is working as a pit boss in a gambling casino, he said.

Jones was convicted of first-degree murder in the January 1986 death of Stanley Albert, whom he'd met at a Kansas City park frequented by gay men.

Prosecutors called it a cold-blooded, execution-style killing over a car. Jones maintained he shot Albert in self-defense when Albert made unwanted sexual advances.