NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The attorney for death row inmate Oscar Franklin Smith confirmed overnight that the 75-year-old has been put on "death watch" ahead of his execution.

According to the Tennessee Department of Correction, during the death watch period, the inmate is placed in a cell adjacent to the execution chamber for 72 hours leading up to their execution to "maintain the security and control of the condemned offender and to maintain safe and orderly operations of the prison."

The 8-by-10-feet cell contains a metal-framed bed with one mattress, a metal desk and attached stool, a metal shelf, a shower, a stainless steel sink and a toilet.

Smith is under 24-hour observation by correctional officers, and visitors are strictly limited to those on his visitation list and spiritual advisors. He cannot have any physical contact with visitors until the day of his execution, at which point the warden will decide if it is allowed.

According to TDOC, Smith may be visited by a spiritual advisor before his execution, but he can only be accompanied to the chamber by the prison chaplain if he requests to do so.

Additionally, the media is not allowed to interview him during this period.

Smith was sentenced to death after he was convicted of the brutal murder of his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her two sons, Jason and Chad Burnett, at their Nashville home on Oct. 1, 1989.

He was last set to be executed in 2022. However, the day of the scheduled execution, Governor Bill Lee delayed it with a temporary reprieve citing "an oversight in preparation for lethal injection."

On Tuesday, May 20, Lee announced he would uphold the death penalty sentence, and would not be granting clemency to Smith.

Smith is set to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday, May 22, making him the first to be put to death under the state’s new protocol.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/tn-death-row-inmate-oscar-smith-on-death-watch-ahead-of-execution/