Sepulvado was Louisiana's oldest prisoner on death row at 81. "The idea that the State was planning to strap this tiny, frail, dying old man to a chair and force him to breathe toxic gas into his failing lungs is simply barbaric,

Christopher Sepulvado, the 81-year-old man who was facing execution next month for the 1992 murder of his stepson, died overnight at Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, according to his attorney.

Louisiana’s first inmate scheduled for execution in the past 15 years has died of illness and natural causes, less than a month ahead of his scheduled death, his attorney and state officials said Sunday (Feb.