Richmond, USA - A man slated to be put to death next week for the slaying of a fellow inmate during a Nordic pagan ceremony asked the U.S. Supreme Court to grant him a stay of execution.
Michael Lenz, 42, is scheduled to die by injection July 27 at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt for the fatal stabbing of Brent Parker.
In their petition to the high court Wednesday, attorneys contend jurors in Lenz's case admitted they'd consulted a Bible during their sentencing deliberations, and that one member said some jurors pointed to passages that supported the death penalty for killers. Lenz's attorneys argue the jurors' consultation of the Bible was an outside influence that denied Lenz the right to a fair and impartial trial.
The state contends Lenz deserves to die.
"We don't believe that issue is grounds to stop a fully justified death sentence," said J. Tucker Martin, spokesman for Attorney General Bob McDonnell.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond on Monday denied Lenz's request for a stay.
Lenz was sentenced to death in 2000 for the slaying of 41-year-old Brent Parker, a fellow inmate at the Augusta Correctional Center. Lenz and another inmate, Jeffrey Remington, fatally stabbed Parker a combined 68 times with makeshift knives.
The three inmates were followers of the Nordic neopagan religion Asatru, and belonged to a group known as the Ironwood Kindred. The group had gathered for a ceremony when Lenz and Remington attacked Parker. Lenz testified that Parker had not been taking the religion seriously, and to protect the honor of the gods, Parker had to die.
Remington was also sentenced to death, but committed suicide in 2004.
Lenz has also filed a clemency petition with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. Kaine's spokesman, Kevin Hall, said the governor and his legal team were still considering Lenz's clemency request Wednesday.
Lenz declined through his attorney, Jennifer Givens, to be interviewed.
"I think he's doing as well as anyone could do under the circumstances," Givens said. "He certainly hopes that either the Supreme Court or the governor takes measures to ensure that he's not executed next week."