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OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The state Supreme Court has stayed the execution of Cal Coburn Brown hours before he was to die for the murder of a 22-year-old woman.

In a 5-4 ruling Thursday, the high court, led by Justice Charles Johnson, granted the last-minute appeal that was filed by Brown's lawyers Wednesday, after Thurston County Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham denied a stay of execution.

Brown was scheduled to die by lethal injection early Friday morning at the Washington State Penitentiary.

Brown was convicted of carjacking Holly Washa at knife-point near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport 18 years ago. He robbed, raped and tortured the 22-year-old Burien woman before stabbing and strangling her.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg called the stay a delay tactic, a game being played by Brown's attorneys.

"Cal Brown is the worst of the worst. In the 25 years I've been a prosecutor, his crime was the most sadistic, most calculated crime. He deserves the death penalty if we're going to have one, and nothing about this case makes me doubt whether we should have one," he said.

Before the court stayed his execution on Thursday, Brown called the state clemency board from prison to apologize and make an emotional plea.

"I cannot begin to tell you sorry and ashamed I am for what I have done. Back in 1991 I was in a very dark place," he said. "I hope the fact that she haunts me - and she does, she haunts me to this day - I hope that that might help, I don't know.

"Killing Holly Washa did not deprive her of her own life, as horrible as that its. But it took her away from her friends and her family far, far too soon. There has not been one day since that time that I haven't felt horrible about what I did. And if there was any way I could tell her family that, I wold do so. If there was any way I could bring her back, I would do so," Brown said.

The board also heard from Washa's family, who had driven from Nebraska to be in Walla Walla to watch Brown's execution.

"He confessed. He confessed to this crime before they even fond her body. He did it, he knows he did and now is time to pay for it," said Karen Washa, the victim's sister.

"And I have no respect for what he did. He has no remorse, and we'll always miss her," said John Washa, the victim's father.

In the end their comments didn't matter; what did matter was a pending case in Thurston County Superior Court. Brown's case has been consolidated with that of Darrol Stenson which challenges the constitutionality of lethal injection as a form of execution.

Stenson received a stay of execution in December after arguing that the state's lethal injection practices constitute cruel and unusual punishment. A hearing on that issue is scheduled for May.

Earlier in the week, the state Supreme Court rejected Brown's arguments that the death penalty is applied irrationally in Washington and that he should not be executed because he suffers from a mental illness.

According to court documents, Brown suffers from bipolar disorder, but was not being treated at the time of the murder. Since 1994, prison staff have prescribed medication to control the condition.

Brown, whose death sentence was overturned by a federal appeals court in 2007 but later reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court, confessed to Washa's torture and murder.

He had been out of an Oregon prison just two months for an attack seven years earlier.

Near the airport, Brown got Washa's attention by pointing to the rear tire of her vehicle, indicating a problem. When the young woman opened her car door to investigate, he jumped in and held her at knifepoint.

For the next 36 hours, Brown raped and tortured Washa in a motel room before killing her. Days later, arrested for attacking another woman in California, Brown directed police to Washa's body in the trunk of her car.

Since 1904, 77 men have been put to death in Washington state. Brown would be just the fifth inmate executed since 1963.

Brown was convicted of aggravated first-degree murder on Dec. 10, 1993, and sentenced to death 17 days later.

the government shouldn't be allowed to kill its citizens under any circumstances

^^^ A confessed rapist/murderer? Yeah, not only do I agree with RTW (heaven forbid) that the execution should be held almost immediately, but go ahead and save the state some money and just bash his head in with a rock.

After the deed is done, you auction off pieces of the rock, with the proceeds going to the victim's family.

Morbid, yes...but righteous on so many levels.

Okay, strip him of his citizenship first.   ;D

What he is convienently leaving out is the fact the guy has a diagnosed mental condition that has been successfully treated once he was in prison with drugs. If he had been treated earlier one could surmise that maybe this woman would still be alive.

Why should not taking your drugs and commiting a crime be treated any differently than taking illicit drugs and committing the same crime?

What he is convienently leaving out