JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The execution of a Missouri man who killed a woman and her two children is on hold indefinitely as the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to review the case.

The court on Tuesday issued a late stay of execution just hours before Mark Christeson was scheduled to die by injection.

That stay will remain in place until the court decides whether to hear Christeson’s appeal. His request cites concerns that his lawyers were ineffective and missed a deadline to appeal with a federal court in 2005.

Christeson still could be executed if the justices rule against a review.

In the meantime, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections says he’ll be transferred from a holding cell at the execution facility and back to prison in the next few days.