A man convicted of killing his wife more than three decades ago has been moved to death watch, and the governor has decided not to intervene.

Donnie Johnson was sentenced to death for the 1984 murder of his wife, Connie Johnson, in Memphis. Investigators said he suffocated her by stuffing a 30-gallon trash bag down her throat and left her body outside the Mall of Memphis two weeks before Christmas.

Death watch is the three-day period before an execution when the inmate is moved to a cell adjacent to the execution chamber where he is under constant 24-hour a day observation.

Only people on the inmates official visitation list are allowed to visit during death watch, and no contact is allowed until the final day, and that’s at the discretion of the warden.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined this week to consider a challenge from Tennessee death row inmates who say lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. Johnson said he will not file any more legal challenges on Monday. Instead he asked for mercy from the Governor, with a request that his sentence be commuted to life without parole.

Governor Bill Lee decided to deny that plea and will uphold Johnson’s execution sentence.  MORE HERE