A Death Row pensioner gorged on a double bacon cheeseburger as his last meal before his execution was delayed.
Triple murderer Oscar Smith, 72, was scheduled to be killed via lethal injection yesterday having spent more than 30 years on Tennessee's death row.
He was convicted of murdering his estranged wife Judith Robirds Smith, 35, and her teen sons from a previous marriage - 16-year-old Chad Burnett and 13-year-old Jason Burnett - inside a home in Nashville in 1989.
Ahead of his scheduled execution, Smith ate a massive final meal of a double bacon cheeseburger, a deep-dish apple pie and vanilla bean ice cream at 4.12pm.
But shortly after, Governor Bill Lee announced on Thursday: "Due to an oversight in preparation for lethal injection, the scheduled execution of Oscar Smith will not move forward tonight.
"I am granting a temporary reprieve while we address Tennessee Department of Correction protocol. Further details will be released when they are available."
Amy Harwell, an attorney with the federal public defender’s office representing Smith, told NBC News, said her office was told the issue dealt with “mishandling” of the drugs, but no further details were given.
During the grisly murder, Smith was shot in the neck and stabbed several times.
Chad was shot in the left eye and then in the upper chest and left torso while his younger brother was stabbed in the neck and abdomen.
Smith, who was 40 at the time, allegedly threatened to kill Judith on at least 12 occasions.
During the investigation, a bloody handprint — missing two fingers — was found on a bedsheet beside Judith's body.
Smith is missing two fingers and was engaged in a custody battle for their three-year-old twins at the time.
Their mother had also filed multiple domestic violence charges against him in recent months, for both her and her two teenage sons.
In 1990 Smith was sentenced to death for three counts of capital murder.
He has maintained his innocence throughout his time in prison.
Smith filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging his First Amendment rights are being violated by Tennessee courts refusing to hear his case, it was reported.
He claims that there is evidence showing he is not the person who handled the murder weapon.
He has exhausted his appeal attempts through local criminal courts, appellate courts and the Tennessee Supreme Court.
