--- description: Texas convict is one of the state's longest-serving inmates title: Supreme Court Stays Lester Bower Execution in Texas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd75c86ea0ba02231/69877dd3a988ca06206ac4ca/ap080703016958.jpg?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Supreme Court Stays Execution of Texas Inmate After 30 Years on Death Row by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/) ## Josh Sanburn Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 5, 2015 8:11 PM CUT  Lester Bower was condemned for the slayings of four men at a North Texas airplane hangar three decades years ago. Lester Bower was condemned for the slayings of four men at a North Texas airplane hangar three decades years ago.Anonymous—AP by [Josh Sanburn](/author/josh-sanburn/) ## Josh Sanburn Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 5, 2015 8:11 PM CUT The Supreme Court temporarily halted the execution of Texas inmate Lester Bower Thursday, as it considers a full appeal that could prevent the state from putting him to death after three decades on Death Row. One of Texas’s longest-serving inmates, Bower was convicted in the 1983 murder of four men in an airplane hangar and scheduled to die by lethal injection Feb. 10. **MORE:** [Ohio Abandons Controversial Execution Drug Cocktail](http://time.com/3660290/ohio-lethal-injection-sodium-thiopental/ "undefined") Bower, who has maintained his innocence, has asked the Supreme Court to consider, among other things, whether executing an inmate who has been on death row for three decades represents cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. His lawyers also claimed that during the trial, prosecutors argued that he was one of just a few people in Texas who possessed special ammunition that they said was used in the murders. Following the trial, Texas disclosed evidence that falsified the prosecution’s theory. **MORE:** [Supreme Court Delays Execution for 3 Oklahoma Inmates](http://time.com/3686514/supreme-court-delays-executions-oklahoma-inmates/ "undefined") In its one-page stay, the Supreme Court said the stay would expire if it decided to hear and rule on Bower’s full appeal. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3697772/lester-bower-execution-texas-supreme-court/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3697772/lester-bower-execution-texas-supreme-court/"},"headline":"Supreme Court Stays Execution of Texas Inmate After 30 Years on Death Row","datePublished":"2015-02-05T20:11:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:11:34.607Z","description":"Lester Bower is one of the state's longest-serving inmates","url":"https://time.com/3697772/lester-bower-execution-texas-supreme-court/","keywords":["Supreme Court","Crime","lethal injection","executions","scotus","Constitution"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd75c86ea0ba02231/69877dd3a988ca06206ac4ca/ap080703016958.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Josh Sanburn","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/josh-sanburn/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd75c86ea0ba02231/69877dd3a988ca06206ac4ca/ap080703016958.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Lester Bower","caption":"Lester Bower","creditText":"Anonymous—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3697772/lester-bower-execution-texas-supreme-court/","name":"Supreme Court Stays Execution of Texas Inmate After 30 Years on Death Row"}}]}] ```