Tommy Arthur, with ties to the Haleyville area, had an execution date set for Thursday at 6 p.m. at Holman prison. Arthur was granted a last-minute stay by the U.S. Supreme Court just before the planned execution. However, later in the night, the Court lifted the stay and Arthur was executed just after midnight. He had been on death row for 35 years and granted 7 stays to his execution, some following last-minute appeals. Thursday night, the “Houdini” of death row was finally put to death. In the 80’s, Arthur shot and killed a woman in Bear Creek, wounded one other, and was found guilty of killing a Shoals man while on work release for his first conviction.