Oregon Public Broadcasting

The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down a request by Washington death row inmate Cal Coburn Brown to stay his execution.

Brown is scheduled to die in the early morning hours Friday by lethal injection for the 1991 rape and murder of Holly Washa.

An emotional Governor Chris Gregoire noted this is the second time Washa's family has come from Nebraska to witness Brown's death. Last year, a judge halted the execution just hours before it was to take place.

Chris Gregoire: "My heart is heavy today. This is a tough day. I talked to the family of Holly yesterday. They want closure. They want to come out here again and close. They don't want to come out again and go back home and relive and rethink what happened to their loved one."

Wednesday, Gregoire denied Brown's request to commute his sentence to life in prison.

He is still pursuing eleventh hour court challenges based on the argument that he has bipolar disorder and is therefore incompetent.

The execution is scheduled to take place one minute after midnight Friday morning at the state prison in Walla Walla.