Convicted cop killer set to be executed

Convicted cop killer Vernon Madison is set to be executed Thursday night.

Madison shot Mobile police officer Julius Schulte in the back of the head in 1985.

Madison's attorneys are fighting the execution, saying a series of strokes have left him with dementia. They say he no longer understands why he's being executed.

Madison is now 67 years old.

His attorneys this week argued a judge should not have sentenced Madison to death when jurors recommended life imprisonment.

Alabama lawmakers last year abolished the practice of allowing judges to override a jury's recommendation in capital cases.