Arizona inmate fails to opt for gas chamber execution, set for lethal injection instead

A prisoner scheduled to be executed in three weeks in what would be Arizona's first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years will die by lethal injection and not in the gas chamber - a method that hasn't been used in the United States in more than two decades.

Clarence Dixon declined to pick a method of execution when officials asked him if he wanted to die by lethal injection or the gas chamber, leaving him to be put to death by lethal injection - the default method for condemned prisoners who don't make a decision, Dixon's defense team said Wednesday.

Dixon is scheduled to be executed on May 11 with an injection of pentobarbital for his conviction in the 1977 murder of Arizona State University student Deana Bowdoin. Prosecutors believe the execution will likely be delayed if a judge goes forward with a hearing to determine whether Dixon is mentally fit to be put to death.