Who Is Jack Greene? Arkansas Supreme Court Halts Mentally Ill Murderer's Execution

The execution of Jack Greene, an inmate in Varner Prison, Arkansas, was halted by the state’s Supreme Court on Tuesday after his attorneys argued that their client suffered from psychotic disorders, reports said. Greene was scheduled to be executed on Nov. 9.

Greene's attorneys appealed for the stay so that a lower court's decision to dismiss his challenge of a state law that allows Arkansas’ authorities to determine whether he is competent, can be reviewed, CBS Affiliate THV11 reported. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he was "surprised" by the ruling. He added that the decision works toward prolonging "the justice the Burnett family was promised more than 20 years ago."

Greene's attorneys had filed an extensive pleading for clemency on Oct 4. based on his childhood experiences and mental condition which included a 14-minute video on the suicide of his father and family life in a chicken coop and mistreatment by caretakers, Arkansas Times reported.

Jack Greene, 36, of Springdale, Arkansas, was arrested July 27, 1991, as a prime suspect in the murder of 69-year-old Arkansas man, Sidney Jethro Burnett. Investigators later discovered that Greene knew Burnett, who was a pastor at a church. Greene and his girlfriend befriended Burnett and his wife through a church charity program. The Burnetts had provided Greene with a place to live and helped him with finding employment.

Greene and his girlfriend had relationship issues. Greene had accused Burnett of interfering in their relationship. In the argument that the prosecutor made during the trial in the state Supreme Court in 2004, “overwhelming evidence of guilt” against Greene was established, according to court records.

“He went to their home with handcuffs, a .25 caliber pistol, and a filament tape,” the records read. “He bound Sidney Burnett's hands, feet, and mouth. Over a period of time, appellant beat Burnett in the head, probably with a can of hominy; bruised his back, probably by stomping him with his heel; brutally stabbed him in the back; committed even more horrible torture when he cut the victim from mouth to ear; and ultimately shot him in the chest and in the head.”

Donna Johnson, Greene’s former girlfriend broke her silence in April, in an interview with local news outlet 5News about how she was mentally tortured by him at the time. Soon after they met in 1984, moved in together and had a daughter, Johnson discovered that her the-then boyfriend had a dark side.

He reportedly told her that if she ever tried to leave him, he would chase her down and kill her and her entire family. Although Johnson tried to report these threats to the police at the time, no one took her seriously. “He headed straight for Arkansas, straight to find me to murder me,” Johnson explained.

Before Greene fled to Arkansas, he went to North Carolina on July 16, 1991, shot his own brother Turner “Tommy” Greene multiple times and stole his car. Before Turner arrived at his home, Jack had kidnapped his 16-year-old niece, forced her to enter her home and wait for her father. Before he died, Turner had identified Jack as the assailant, according to News OK.

She said at the time that every time that Greene’s execution is postponed, she feels little less safe. “You can't get justice if they continue putting off these executions,” Johnson said. “I still live in fear every day.”