Gregory McKnight, who was convicted in 2002 for the murder of Kenyon student Emily Murray ’02, has asked U.S. District Court’s Southern District that he be executed.

Murray, a waitress at the Pirate’s Cove — later replaced by the Gambier Grill — was found dead in former Cove employee McKnight’s trailer 110 miles from Gambier in December 2000. The body of Gregory Julius, a close friend of McKnight’s, was also discovered on the property.

For the past 10 years, McKnight has appealed his convictions. But in a hearing held in August, he asked that his appeals be voided and made a plea for execution. In a letter to Magistrate Judge Michael Merz, McKnight accused federal lawyers of filing appeals without his approval. “They do not speak for me,” McKnight wrote in court documents. Though Merz accepted McKnight’s withdrawal of the appeals, he has yet to rule on the case.

McKnight’s lawyer, David Stebbins, wrote in a press release that pleas for executions are very rare. He is currently waiting on the judge’s decision to see how to proceed in this case, but would not comment further on the matter, citing attorney-client privilege.