Facts of the Crime:

James Thomas, who was sentenced to death in 1987 for the first-degree murder of Teresa Ann West. He also received a consecutive term of life imprisonment for first-degree sexual offense. Thomas was charged with, and convicted of, first-degree murder and first-degree sexual offense. The murder conviction rested on both premeditation and the felony murder rule, with the underlying felony being the first-degree sexual offense. The jury sentenced Thomas to death.

Thomas has exhausted all appeals and was denied certiorari by the US Supreme Court on December 11, 2006. An execution date scheduled for February 2, 2007 was stayed.