The execution of the only woman on Georgia's death row lost her bid for clemency hours before her scheduled Wednesday evening execution. But nasty winter weather Wednesday may have bought inmate Kelly Gissendaner some time after corrections officials postponed her execution to 7 p.m. Monday.
The 47-year-old was sentenced to death for the 1997 murder of her husband even though it was her lover — who got life in prison — who did the stabbing. Barring a last-minute reprieve from an appeals court, she will become the first woman executed in the state in 70 years.
In her clemency petition, Gissendaner said she took full responsibility for her role in the slaying of her husband, Doug, and said she had been a model inmate who had found God. Prosecutors say she orchestrated the murder and went to the crime scene to check that the victim was dead.