A federal appeals court has rejected a death row inmate’s argument that he must serve out his federal sentence before Alabama can put him to death for the 1989 killing of a federal judge.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday ruled that Walter Leroy Moody does not have a right to demand that he serve his federal sentence first.

Moody is scheduled to be executed Thursday for killing 11th Circuit Judge Robert Vance with a bomb mailed to his home.

Authorities said Moody mailed four bombs in 1989. He was sentenced in federal court in 1991 to seven life terms plus 400 years. He was later convicted of capital murder for Vance’s death and sentenced to the death penalty.

(Associated Press, copyright 2018)