Federal court halts execution of man who killed his two daughters

John Battaglia shot his two daughters and forced their mother to listen on speakerphone.

(Texas Department of Corrections (Texas Department of Corrections)

A US district court has halted the execution of John Battaglia, a 60-year-old man who was convicted of killing his two daughters in 2001 while he had the girls' mom on the phone, hearing the gunshots and their screams.

The court ruled that Battaglia's counsel was not with him for part of his appeals process and that he should not be given the lethal injection of Wednesday in Brownsville, Texas, Reuters reported.

Battaglia had a history of domestic violence and his ex-wife, Mary Jean Pearl, was trying to press charges against him for violating a protective order.

In May 2001, Battaglia was with his daughters when he left a message for Ms Pearl. When his ex-wife called back, Battaglia put his 9-year-old daughter, Mary Faith, on the phone.

The girl asked, "Mommy, why do you want Daddy to go to jail?" Then moments later, "No, Daddy, please don't, don't do it."

Ms Pearl then heard gunshots and screaming. She called police, who went to Battaglia's apartment and found Mary Faith and 6-year-old Liberty dead with multiple gunshot wounds, Reuters reported.

After he killed his daughters, Battaglia went to the bar with his girlfriend before being arrested at a tattoo parlor, getting commemorative rose tattoos of his daughters, case documents show. A jury convicted him in just 20 minutes.

Battaglia's lawyers also filed a late appeal, saying his bipolar disorder should have prevented him from being subject to the death penalty.

"Mr Battaglia has presented evidence that makes a colorable showing that his delusions make him not understand the reasoning behind the execution," the lawyers said in a filing to the US Supreme Court.

It is not immediately clear if Battaglia will be given another chance to appeal the death penalty or if his execution will be rescheduled.

Follow @PaytonGuion on Twitter.