White supremacist serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin was executed Wednesday morning after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final requests for a stay , the Missouri Department of Public Safety said . The execution , which had been scheduled for shortly after midnight Wednesday , was delayed for hours because of court appeals . Franklin was administered a lethal injection at 6:07 a.m. CT ( 7:07 a.m . ET ) . He died ten minutes later . Franklin refused his final meal and gave no final statement . He was on death row for the 1977 murder of Gerald Gordon outside a synagogue in St. Louis . He was blamed for 22 killings between 1977 and 1980 in a bid to start a race war . Missouri Gov . Jay Nixon denied clemency for Franklin on Monday , saying he had committed `` merciless acts of violence , fueled by hate . '' In addition to the killings , Franklin admitted to the attempted assassinations of Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt in 1978 and civil rights leader Vernon Jordan in 1980 . Flynt , who was paralyzed by Franklin 's bullet , has called for clemency for Franklin , saying `` the government has no business at all being in the business of killing people . '' Battle over drugs used . One of Franklin 's final legal maneuvers focused on the drug used for the lethal injection , pentobarbital . His attorneys argued that the injection would violate the Constitution 's ban on cruel and unusual punishment . On Tuesday , U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey granted a stay of execution , finding Franklin 's lawyers showed the use of pentobarbital carried `` a high risk of contamination and prolonged , unnecessary pain beyond that which is required to achieve death . '' An intimate discussion with a serial killer . `` Given the irreversible nature of the death penalty and plaintiffs ' medical evidence and allegations , a stay is necessary to ensure that the defendants ' last act against Franklin is not permanent , irremediable cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment , '' Laughrey wrote . Another federal judge granted a second stay Tuesday , based on a separate defense petition contesting Franklin 's competency . `` The Court concludes that a stay of execution is required to permit a meaningful review , '' U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson wrote . The state appealed both stays to the 8th U.S . Circuit Court of Appeals , which decided early Wednesday that Franklin 's lawyers had not provided enough evidence to warrant a stay . The U.S. Supreme Court denied Franklin 's requests to step in and halt the execution . Missouri had planned to use propofol , the surgical anesthetic made infamous by the death of pop star Michael Jackson . But Nixon reversed that decision after being warned that the European Union -- whose members forbid capital punishment -- might halt shipments of the drug , leading to shortages for medical purposes . Missouri and other states that conduct executions have had to scramble for new drugs after European-based manufacturers banned American prisons from using their drugs in executions . In October , the state announced it would use pentobarbital , which would be provided by an unnamed compounding pharmacy . Franklin 's lawyers argued that would raise the risk of contamination and a painful death .
Joseph Paul Franklin is executed after the Supreme Court declines to step in . Two judges granted stays Tuesday . He shot Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt . He was executed for a 1977 killing outside a St. Louis synagogue .