Fifty-five-year-old David Zink was put to death by injection Tuesday at a state prison south of St. Louis after the U.S. Supreme Court and Gov. Jay Nixon declined to intervene. Zink was a paroled sex offender in 2001 when he abducted Amanda Morton after hitting her car on an Interstate 44 exit ramp a mile from her home.
He told investigators he feared his drunken fender-bender could violate his parole and send him back to prison.
Jurors convicted Zink in 2004 and recommended a death sentence.
Corrections Department spokesman Mike O’Connell said Zink was pronounced dead at 7:41 p.m.