Missouri executes inmate for 1993 farm slaying
By JIM SALTER, Associated Press
Apr 23, 2014 1:44 AM CDT
In this Dec. 1, 2013 provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections is William Rousan. Rousan is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. He was sentenced to death for killing 62-year-old Grace Lewis in 1993 and was sentenced to life in prison for killing her 67-year-old husband. (AP Photo/Missouri...   (Associated Press)

BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — Missouri has executed an inmate convicted of killing a farming couple in 1993 as part of a plot to steal their cows.

William Rousan mouthed words to his brother-in-law and a minister he invited to the execution before he was killed. He was declared dead at 12:10 a.m., nine minutes after the procedure began.

Prosecutors say Rousan, his teenage son and brother killed Charlie and Grace Lewis at their farm, which only a few miles from the prison where Rousan was executed.

The couple's son, Michael Lewis, said after Rousan's execution that it gives him no satisfaction because it doesn't replace or restore the moments he lost with his parents.

Rousan was the fourth Missouri inmate executed this year.