Alan Jeffrey (A J) Bannister, white, is scheduled to be executed in Missouri on 7 December 1994. He was convicted for the murder-for-hire killing of Darrell Ruestman, white, in 1982 and sentenced in 1983. All avenues of legal appeal have been exhausted and his lawyers have recently presented a petition for clemency to Governor Carnahan. According to his lawyers, his defence at the original trial was “woefully inadequate”. Investigations conducted since 1991 indicate that Bannister was not hired to kill Ruestman but allegedly shot him during a struggle.
