SD prison inmate to be executed in mid-September

• Rodney Berget

In this April 13 photo, Rodney Berget, accused of killing a South Dakota prison guard during an unsuccessful escape in 2011, is escorted to court in Sioux Falls. A judge on Monday sentenced Berget to death for his part in the murder. (AP Photo/The Argus Leader, Elisha Page)

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PIERRE (AP) — A mid-September execution is set for the second of two men sentenced to die for the killing of a South Dakota prison guard during a failed escape attempt.

Attorney General Marty Jackley says 49-year-old Rodney Berget is to be executed by lethal injection the week of Sept. 9-15. The order by Second Circuit Judge Bradley Zell says the exact date and time is to be chosen by the State Penitentiary warden.

Berget and 49-year-old Eric Robert both pleaded guilty to killing 63-year-old Ronald Johnson last April. A third inmate, 47-year-old Michael Nordman, was given a life sentence for providing the plastic wrap and pipe that Robert and Berget used to kill Johnson.

Robert's execution was set for the week of May 13 but the state Supreme Court has delayed it.

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