Missouri Supreme Court sets date for first '06 execution

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Supreme Court has set a Feb. 1 execution date for a man who pleaded guilty to killing a Kansas City teenager more than 15 years ago.

Michael Taylor, 38, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, forcible rape, armed criminal action and kidnapping for the March 1989 killing of Ann Harrison.

Court documents state that Harrison, 15, was waiting for her school bus when Taylor and his accomplice, Roderick Nunley, forced her into their stolen vehicle.

Taylor and Nunley have said they had been using drugs and wanted to steal her purse.

According to court records, Taylor raped Harrison in Nunley's mother's basement and then helped Nunley kill her because they were afraid she would identify them.

Both were sentenced to death in 1991 and then, after their sentences were overturned, were again sentenced to death in 1994.

Taylor's execution would be Missouri's first in 2006.

Missouri -- one of 38 states with the death penalty -- executed five people in 2005, tied for the second most behind Texas. Nationwide, there were 60 executions last year.