<p>Georgia's parole board denied clemency for a death row inmate on Tuesday, hours before he was scheduled to be executed for killing and dismembering a lawyer in 1984.</p><p>A hearing for Robert Dale Conklin, 44, was held Monday. On Tuesday, the board released a brief statement saying it has denied Conklin's request for clemency. It did not say why.</p><p>Board spokeswoman Kim Patton-Johnson said she could not comment on the board's decision. Also Tuesday, the state Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision, denied Conklin's request for a stay of execution.</p><p>Barring a successful last-minute appeal, Conklin's execution was set for Tuesday evening.</p><p>Conklin was convicted of fatally stabbing 28-year-old George Crooks with a screwdriver during an altercation in Conklin's Atlanta apartment. The two were romantically involved.</p><p>Conklin says he was fending off an attempted rape at the time of the attack. Prosecutors say Conklin acted with malice and after killing Crooks, he cut up the victim's body and disposed of the pieces in trash bags and a garbage disposal to avoid being caught.</p><p>Last week, defense lawyers filed a motion challenging Conklin's incarceration. In the motion in Butts County Superior Court, the lawyers said Conklin deserves a new trial and they asked a judge to at least hold a hearing at which Conklin can offer proof for his self-defense claims.</p><p>In the clemency petition reviewed at Monday's hearing, defense lawyers presented affidavits from several jurors who convicted Conklin who said they don't believe he should be executed.</p><p>Another affidavit from the former medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Crooks' body also said Conklin should not be executed. The doctor, Saleh Zaki, also wrote of Crooks' death that he does not "believe that this was necessarily an intentional murder case."</p><p>A year before the killing, Conklin was released on parole from prison in Illinois following burglary, theft and armed robbery convictions.</p><p>Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said last week that he believes Conklin deserves to be executed, and he said he would oppose clemency at Monday's hearing, which was closed to the public.</p><p>The execution would be Georgia's third this year.</p>
