U.S. Woman Faces Execution over Husband's Murder

The only U.S. woman on Georgia's death row is scheduled to be executed late Monday for conspiring to murder her husband nearly two decades ago.

Kelly Gissendaner's team had still not filed an appeal early Monday at the U.S. Supreme Court, her last possible recourse, court sources said. 

Barring a last-minute stay, Gissendaner would be the 16th female prisoner to be executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated nationwide in 1976.

In comparison, 1,387 men have been executed during that period, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Gissendaner, 46, is due to receive a lethal injection at 7:00 pm (0000 GMT Tuesday) at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison in Jackson.

It had been delayed by several days due to a snowstorm in the area.

Gissendaner was sentenced to death for recruiting her then-lover to kill her husband Doug in February 1997 and obtain his life insurance payout.

The Gissendaners had separated several times and even divorced before remarrying.

The boyfriend, Gregory Owen, pleaded guilty and testified against Gissendaner in 1998, thus avoiding a sentence of life in prison.

Gissendaner's lawyer had told her not to plead guilty since she was a woman and had not killed her husband with her own hands.

Last week, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied her clemency, despite having heard 21 testimonies in her favor, including from two of her children. Gissendaner's legal team has asked the board to reconsider its decision.

Georgia has executed 57 prisoners since 1976, including two so far this year. 

Prisoner complaints from the southern state had led to the 1972 moratorium on the death penalty, before it was re-established four years later.