8 years after asking for death, Bishop scheduled for execution
http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=8702266

Associated Press - July 19, 2008 1:44 PM ET

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi death row inmate Dale Leo Bishop is just days away from the execution he asked for eight years ago.

Bishop is scheduled to die Wednesday for his role in the killing of Marcus James Gentry, who was bludgeoned to death in December 1998.

Prosecutors say Gentry was hit with a hammer 23 times before the tool lodged in his throat. He was left for dead in bushes along a dirt road near Saltillo in north Mississippi.

Bishop's attorneys acknowledged he participated in the crime but said another man is the real killer.

During the sentencing phase of his trial in 2000, Bishop apologized to the victim's father. He said Gentry needed a beating, but he didn't know an accomplice would "go all out like that." It was then that Bishop asked for - and received - the death penalty.

Now, Bishop's attorneys says he was suffering from bipolar disorder at the time. After getting on medication, Bishop says his outlook has changed - and wants to live for his two sons.

Bishop's accomplice - Jessie Johnson - is serving a life sentence.

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