NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee is scheduled to execute Tony Carruthers on Thursday after his attorneys questioned whether the state's lethal injection drugs had expired and courts denied requests to test DNA and fingerprint evidence or to deem him mentally incompetent.
Tony Carruthers, 57, was sentenced to death after being found guilty of the 1994 kidnappings and murders of Marcellos Anderson; his mother, Delois Anderson; and Frederick Tucker. He was forced to represent himself at trial repeatedly complaining about court-appointed attorneys and threatening to harm several of them.
There was no physical evidence tying Carruthers to the killings, and he was convicted primarily on the basis of testimony from people who claimed to have heard him confess to or discuss the crimes.
They include a man who was later revealed to be a police informant and told media he was paid for his testimony. A co-defendant, James Montgomery, was originally sentenced to death along with Carruthers but was later resentenced and released from prison in 2015, according to court filings.
Authorities said Marcellos Anderson was a drug dealer, and Carruthers was trying to take over the illegal drug trade in their Memphis neighborhood. His attorneys have said that Carruthers' “paranoia and delusions” prevented him from being able to cooperate with court-appointed counsel, but the judge viewed this behavior as willful.
The Tennessee Supreme Court said on appeal that Carruthers’ actions before the trial jury were offensive and self-destructive but the situation in which he found himself was one of his own making. If the execution goes forward as scheduled, Carruthers will be the first person to be executed after being forced to represent himself in more than a century, according to a clemency petition to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.
In the petition, Carruthers' attorneys argue that the reason he was sentenced to death was because a medical examiner testified the victims were buried alive, going into excruciating detail for the jury. He later withdrew that claim and subsequent experts have said it was false.
Carruthers' attorneys have tried to show that he is incompetent to be executed. They claim in court filings that Carruthers believes the government is bluffing about executing him in order to coerce him into accepting a plea deal that exists only in his mind. That way, Carruthers believes, the government can avoid paying him what he thinks are millions of dollars it owes him. He is convinced that his own attorneys are part of a conspiracy against him and refuses to even speak with them, according to court filings.
The number of executions in the U.S. surged from 25 in 2024 to 47 last year, driven by a sharp increase in Florida. That state carried out 19 executions in 2025, up from one the previous year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. So far this year, four states have executed 13 people, and 11 other executions are scheduled.
It’s not unusual to see several executions over a short period of time. Last year, four people were executed over three days in March in Oklahoma, Florida, Louisiana and Arizona. Another five people were executed over a week in October in Arizona, Mississippi, Missouri, Florida and Indiana, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Tennessee began a new round of executions last year after a three-year pause following the discovery that the state was not properly testing lethal injection drugs for purity and potency.
An independent review later found that none of the drugs prepared for the seven inmates executed in Tennessee since 2018 had been fully tested. The state attorney general’s office also conceded in court that two of the people most responsible for overseeing Tennessee’s lethal injection drugs “ incorrectly testified ” under oath that officials were testing the chemicals as required.
This Tennessee Department of Correction photo shows inmate Tony Carruthers. (Tennessee Department of Correction via AP)
DENVER (AP) — Dylan Coghlan scored his first playoff goal to get Vegas rolling, Carter Hart made 36 saves and the Golden Knights opened the Western Conference Final by holding off the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Wednesday night.
Trailing 3-0 in the third period, Colorado made it 3-2 with 2:21 remaining on a power-play goal from Gabriel Landeskog. Nic Dowd sealed it for Vegas with an empty-net goal.
Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden also scored for the Golden Knights, who took advantage of several defensive miscommunications by the Avalanche as they juggled their blue-line pairings with Cale Makar sidelined by an upper-body injury.
Coghlan scored his first NHL goal since Dec. 17, 2021. The 28-year-old defenseman spent most of the season in the American Hockey League. He's played the last five postseason games with the recent injury to Jeremy Lauzon.
“When you say Dylan Coghlan to me, I think of no fear,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “I think he's one of our best defensemen since he's been with us and in the lineup. ... He's a bit unflappable."
It was a smothering performance most of the game by the Golden Knights as they kept the pressure on goaltender Scott Wedgewood, while controlling the Avalanche's speed through the neutral zone. Vegas also had 23 blocked shots.
“We didn't play a flawless game by any means,” Tortorella said. “We have work to do.”
Valeri Nichushkin had a goal at 5:53 of the third to make it 3-1.
Hart was stellar most of the evening, making one sprawling save after another. He got some help from his post, too, when Logan O’Connor's liner clanged off it in the first period.
“We know they've got a lot of skill on their team, and we respect that,” Hart said. “But you can’t respect them too much, and I thought we did a good job of defending and limiting their time and space.”
Mitch Marner added an assist for Vegas to give him 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in this postseason. It was Dorofeyev’s NHL-leading 10th goal of this postseason. The Golden Knights didn’t have injured captain Mark Stone.
“We’re trying to play our game, not worrying too much about countering off another team," Tortorella explained. "They feel very comfortable in it.”
Game 2 is Friday night in Denver.
The Avalanche dropped their first game at home after winning five straight through the first two rounds. Wedgewood made 24 saves.
“It was kind of a nothing game, and then they got a few goals,” Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon said. "Really good team, obviously, but I thought we did a lot of damage to ourselves. Just guys kind of everywhere. Execution, like I said, needs to be better. Obviously, we’re capable of being a lot better than that.”
Colorado tried some different combinations without Makar. It led to some confusion, with Coghlan sneaking into the middle of the ice and lining a shot through the pads of Wedgewood to break a scoreless game in the second period.
“There's definitely a trickle-down effect to that," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of not having Makar. “But he's not playing. We have find a way.”
Coghlan has bounced around over his career, spending his first two seasons with Vegas before stints with Carolina and Winnipeg. He returned to the Golden Knights last July in part, he said, because of the bonds he'd formed.
“This is probably the best I've felt in my whole career,” said Coghlan, who played in three regular-season games for Vegas this season. “Whoever it is I'm playing with I'm very comfortable out there with them. They make it pretty easy on me. We have some pretty world-class players.”
The Golden Knights and Avalanche are meeting in a best-of-seven series for the second time. In 2021, Colorado won the opening two games of their second-round series before Vegas captured four straight.
“ Definitely things we can get better at,” Landeskog said. “But we knew it was (going to) be a long series.”
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Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog, right, blocks the shot by Vegas Golden Knights right wing Pavel Dorofeyev during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood, front, makes a glove save as left wing Gabriel Landeskog, back left, and Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel looks on during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella looks on during the first period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Dylan Coghlan, front, shoots the puck for a goal after driving past Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Dylan Coghlan, front left, is congratulated after scoring a goal by defenseman Shea Theodore, back left, and center Tomas Hertl during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
