
Mississippi has set an execution date for an inmate who has been on death row for 21 years after his appeals and legal challenges were unsuccessful.
In a Thursday ruling, the Mississippi Supreme Court granted a motion from the state in the case of Thomas Edwin Loden Jr., a former U.S. Marine Corps recruiter who was convicted in the 2000 rape and killing of a 16-year-old waitress. Loden is to be put to death Dec. 14 at 6 p.m., or as soon as possible within 24 hours of that time.