HUNTSVILLE (June 30, 2010)—Four hours before convicted killer Jonathan Green was to have been executed in Huntsville, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay in order to consider arguments that Green is delusional and too mentally ill to be put to death.

Green, 42, was scheduled to die just after 6 p.m. Wednesday for the abduction, rape and strangulation of a 12-year-old girl 10 years ago near Houston.

He was already in a cell at the death house when he received word of the reprieve.

He was convicted of the 2000 slaying of Christina LeAnn Neal in Montgomery County.

The discovery of his wallet in a wooded area near clothing and jewelry that belonged to the girl prompted police to question Green, a laborer who was living alone in a shack.

A month later, in July 2000, a neighbor's report about an unusually large trash fire sent investigators back to Green's dilapidated home about 50 miles northwest of Houston.

A police cadaver dog led detectives inside the house where the girl’s remains were found wrapped in a blanket and stuffed into a bag behind a piece of furniture.

Neal had been missing since June 21, 2000.

Authorities say Green initially buried the slain girl’s body in his backyard, but later dug it up and placed it behind a chair in his shack.