As convicted murderer Daniel Wayne Cook's date with death inches closer, a state clemency board has denied his request for mercy.
Cook's lawyers claim he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and brain damage that wasn't diagnosed at the time of his sentencing. His attorneys claim that because of his mental condition, he should be given a life sentence as opposed to the death penalty.
The clemency board, however, isn't buying it, and voted today not to recommend that Governor Jan Brewer grant him a stay of execution or commute his sentence.
Cook was convicted of the 1987 murders of two men in Lake Havasu City, during which he raped and tortured them before strangling them to death. He was sentenced to death and has remained on death row for about 24 years as his appeals worked their way through the courts.
Cook's lawyers aren't contesting his guilt but say executing the convicted murderer "would be a miscarriage of justice."
Cook's attorneys argue that the Mohave County Superior Court declined to hold a hearing presenting information about their clients' new diagnoses, despite the Arizona Supreme Court's last month giving prison officials the green light to set an execution date for Cook.
Cook's scheduled to be executed Tuesday.
