Execution delayed for man convicted of suffocating North Texas pastor
ARLINGTON, Texas - A man on death row for killing a North Texas pastor is now scheduled to be executed early next year.
Steven Nelson was set to die by lethal injection in October, but prosecutors filed a motion to delay it until February.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Nelson’s lawyers asked for more time to develop arguments about the sentencing.
Pastor Clint Dobson
Nelson was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2011 murder of the Rev. Clint Dobson at NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington.
Prosecutors said Nelson suffocated the young pastor by putting a bag over his head as he was sitting in his office writing a sermon.
Nelson also severely beat the church’s secretary before fleeing in her car.
He was captured after going on a shopping spree using the victims’ stolen credit cards.
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During his trial, jurors unanimously agreed that Nelson posed a danger to society and should face the death penalty.
After the sentencing, he was accused of angrily breaking a sprinkler head in his holding cell, which flooded the courtroom.