Oklahoma City, June 25 (Reuters): Oklahoma is set to execute a convicted murderer by lethal injection tomorrow who is terminally ill with cancer and is expected to die in a few months’ time anyway.

Jimmy Dale Bland, 49, was condemned for the murder of Doyle Windle Rains, whom he shot in the back of the head during an apparent quarrel in 1996. In a motion filed with the US supreme court yesterday, Bland’s attorney, David Autry, said the execution would violate the US constitution’s 8th amendment, which prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment”.

Autry said his client’s cancer was spreading and was infecting his lungs, adrenal glands and spinal column. He said Bland only had a few months to live.

“It’s a sickening spectacle to strap somebody down to a gurney and kill them in the name of the state when they are going to be dead from natural causes.

“This is about nothing more than naked vengeance,” he said.