The planned execution of convicted double-murderer Gerald Ross Pizzuto Jr. is on hold as the state of Idaho continues to have trouble obtaining the lethal drugs needed to carry out the death sentence.
According to the Idaho Press, a memo dated yesterday (Wed) from Idaho Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt to the Idaho Board of Correction, the governor’s office and the Idaho Attorney General’s office, Tewalt said, efforts to obtain the necessary chemicals have been unsuccessful to date.
A death warrant was issued by the state last month, and Pizzuto’s execution date had been set for Dec. 15.
Because the department is unable to obtain the drugs anytime soon, the death warrant will be allowed to expire.
The 66-year-old Pizzuto was convicted of killing Berta Herndon and her nephew Del Herndon at a remote cabin near McCall in 1985.
