A federal judge on Wednesday halted the execution of a self-styled high priest of a pagan religion who had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection for fatally stabbing a fellow inmate.
U.S. District Judge Samuel G. Wilson of Charlottesville issued a stay so Michael W. Lenz, 40, can pursue a habeas appeal through the federal courts.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a separate appeal from Lenz.
Lenz's lawyer, Jenny Givens, said Lenz was entitled to a stay pending his habeas appeal. "He will not be executed Thursday night," she said.
Tim Murtaugh, spokesman for Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, agreed that Lenz could avoid execution Thursday if he filed a habeas appeal in U.S. District Court.
A habeas filing is routine in most death cases. It enables a court to determine whether a person is being detained unjustly.
Lenz was sentenced to die for plunging a homemade knife into Brent Parker 68 times four years ago at the Augusta Correctional Center.
Lenz argued at his July 2000 trial that he feared Parker and killed him in self-defense.
Lenz, then serving a seven-year sentence for a string of burglaries in Prince William County, said he was the high priest of a Nordic cult called Asatru. Parker was trying to bully him out of the cult, Lenz testified.
Lenz and friend Jeffrey Remington attacked Parker during an Asatru ceremony while surrounded by witnesses.