Execution set for Missouri inmate who killed ex-girlfriend

(AP) – The Missouri Supreme Court has set a January execution date for Scott McLaughlin, who was convicted of raping and killing an ex-girlfriend 19 years ago.

The execution at the state prison in Bonne Terre, scheduled for Jan. 3, would come six weeks after another convicted killer is scheduled to die.

Kevin Johnson faces the death penalty on Nov. 29 for killing Kirkwood Police Sgt. Bill McEntee in suburban St. Louis in 2005.

McLaughlin was convicted of killing 45-year-old Beverly Guenther on Nov. 20, 2003.

She was raped and stabbed to death outside of her workplace in St. Louis County.