A pair of blood-spattered trousers in a miso tank and an allegedly forced confession helped send Iwao Hakamata to death row more than five decades ago.

In the aftermath of Williams’ execution there has been an outcry from the public due to the doubts over his conviction, especially since it was reported in August that a new development showed that the knife used in the murder was believed to have been contaminated by DNA from a prosecutor and investigator working on the case.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday denied death row inmate Emmanuel Littlejohn's request for an emergency stay of execution. Littlejohn, 52, is set to be executed by lethal injection at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.