AKIPRESS.COM - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has issued an order halting the planned execution of a Missouri inmate, the AP reports.

Alito's order issued late Tuesday does not explain why he suspended the scheduled execution of Russell Bucklew, but it indicates that he or the high court will have more to say about the matter.

The order was issued shortly after the full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a stay of execution granted hours earlier by a three-judge panel of that court.

The panel issued the stay over concerns that Bucklew's rare medical condition could cause him undue suffering during lethal injection.

Bucklew was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 12:01 Wednesday.