AMERICANS EXECUTED A MENTALLY DISABLED MAN! Pope Francis' pleas didn't help either, he was executed by lethal injection!

Foto: Tanjug/AP

The US state of Missouri executed the convicted murderer Ernest Johnson (61) after both Governor Mike Parson and the Supreme Court refused to grant him pardon, in spite of the numerous calls for clemency from Pope Francis, who pleaded against executing Johnson as the man was mentally disabled.

A jury found Johnson guilty of killing three gas station workers in 1994. For this, he was executed by a lethal dose of pentobarbital, a powerful barbiturate, the execution took place in the Bonne Terre city prison.

The convict's lawyers said there was a lot of evidence of his mental disability.

- We asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to stop the execution because it violates the constitutional prohibition of cruel punishment of people with mental disabilities - they said.

However, the Supreme Court rarely stops executions and they thus rejected Johnson's request late in the afternoon on Tuesday.

It is worth mentioning that Johnson suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome at birth, had poor intelligence test results throughout his life, and had the behaviour of a four-year-old child.

His pardon was first sought by the Pope and then by former Missouri governor Bob Holden, a Democrat who had said 20 people had been executed during his tenure. On the other hand, Parson denied the pardon for "brutal murder", as he pointed out.

The jury found Johnson guilty of beating to death Mary Bratcher, Mabel Scruggs and Fred Jones. He used a hammer, a screwdriver and a gun as murder weapons.