Killer of Missouri schoolgirl executed after appeals dismissed

By Carey Gillam KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) – A Missouri man was executed early on Wednesday for raping and murdering a 15 year-old school girl, authorities said after the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a flurry of petitions seeking a stay. Michael Taylor died by lethal injection 25 years after he and an accomplice abducted Ann Harrison while she was waiting for a school bus. But his attorneys launched a string of appeals, including one asserting the drugs used for lethal injection could subject him to a slow and tortuous death. The U.S. Supreme Court denied several petitions on Tuesday night for a last-minute stay or further judicial review sought on Taylor's behalf by his attorney, John Simon.