Missouri executes man who lawyers said had diminished mental capacity, dementia

BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — Missouri's oldest death row inmate was put to death Tuesday night for the 1996 killing of a sheriff's deputy.

Cecil Clayton's execution Tuesday came after the U.S. Supreme Court and the governor declined to spare the 74-year-old, who was missing part of his brain from a 1970s sawmill accident. His attorneys said he had a diminished mental capacity and dementia.

Clayton was convicted of gunning down Christopher Castetter, a 29-year-old sheriff's deputy. Authorities said Clayton shot him once in the forehead while he was in his car.

Clayton's attorneys said he deserved a mental competency hearing, noting what they called his diminished mental capacity from the sawmill accident. They say it cost him about 8 percent of his brain, including one-fifth of the frontal lobe portion governing impulse control and judgment.