The Missouri Supreme Court on Friday issued a death warrant for a Northwest Missouri man convicted of murder to cover up a meth operation.

John Middleton is scheduled to die by lethal injection July 16 at the state prison in Bonne Terre.

Middleton was convicted of killing Alfred Pinegar in Harrison County in 1995. Both the killer and his victim were drug dealers.

Police say Middleton killed Pinegar near Ridgeway and two other people in Mercer County nearly 15 years ago in an effort to cover up a methamphetamine operation.