Missouri Executes First Murderer Since 2017:  A Missouri man convicted of aggravated murder during a 1996 crime spree died peacefully Tuesday from a massive lethal injection of pentobarbital.  The Associated Press reports that Russell Bucklew had won stays of execution twice based on concerns that a medical condition he suffered from would cause his execution to be painful.  On Valentine's Day in 1996, Bucklew's girlfriend broke up with him.  Over the next few weeks Bucklew stalked her and attacked her physically, punching her in the face and cutting her with a knife. Fearing for her life and the lives of her children, she moved into the home of her new boyfriend. On March 21, Bucklew stole a car, armed himself and followed her to the boyfriend's house.  Once there, he shot and killed the boyfriend, pistol whipped and raped his ex-girlfriend, then led police on a chase that concluded with a gunfight that wounded two officers.  Bucklew later escaped from the county jail and attacked his ex-girlfriend's mother with a hammer before being rearrested.  The prosecutor who convicted Bucklew told reporters, "He is probably the most pure sociopath I ever prosecuted."