State Supreme Court sets execution date

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The state Supreme Court has set a May 14 execution for a convicted killer who has dropped all of his appeals.

John Smith, 41, was sentenced to death for the 1997 fatal stabbings of his ex-girlfriend, Brandie Kearnes, and her stepfather, Wayne Hoewing at their home near Canton.

Kearnes was stabbed eight times, but did not die immediately. She partially scrawled Smith's name in her own blood on the kitchen floor, where she was found.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled last month that Smith was competent to waive any further state court appeals.

"His previous indications have been that he does not wish to pursue this in federal court" either, Scott Holste, a spokesman for Attorney General Jay Nixon, said Wednesday.