A final statement from Governor Mike Parson has denied clemency for a transgender woman scheduled to be put to death in Missouri on Tuesday.
Amber McLaughlin was convicted of murder for the death of Beverly Guenther in 2006.
Investigators say she had stalked Guenther for several months until jumping her on January 3, 2003.
Reports say crime scene investigators determined Guenther had been stabbed several times, and had also been raped.
Experts say this will be the first execution of an openly transgender woman in United States history.
The full statement from Governor Parson can be read below:
Today, Governor Mike Parson confirmed that the State of Missouri will carry out the sentence of Scott McLaughlin as ordered by the Supreme Court of Missouri.
“McLaughlin’s conviction and sentence remains after multiple, thorough examinations of Missouri law. McLaughlin stalked, raped, and murdered Ms. Guenther. McLaughlin is a violent criminal,” Governor Parson said. “Ms. Guenther’s family and loved ones deserve peace. The State of Missouri will carry out McLaughlin’s sentence according to the Court’s order and deliver justice.”
McLaughlin waited outside Beverly Guenther’s workplace, where McLaughlin brutally raped and violently stabbed her as she walked to her vehicle to go home. McLaughlin terrorized Ms. Guenther for months prior, to the point where Ms. Guenther had an order of protection against McLaughlin after McLaughlin broke into her home. McLaughlin’s culpability in Ms. Guenther’s murder has never been in question. Missouri courts have found no issue in the application of Missouri law to McLaughlin, and federal appellate courts have maintained as much.
