An execution date for William Morva came and went this week after attorneys obtained a stay, giving them more time to file an appeal of his convictions of killing a sheriff's deputy and a hospital security guard in Montgomery County.

Until just a few weeks ago, Morva had faced a Tuesday execution.

Death row inmates have an automatic right of appeal in Virginia, and execution dates set at the time of their sentencing are routinely canceled after an appeal is filed with the Virginia Supreme Court.

But after a court reporter who was to file a trial transcript with the appeal became ill and unable to meet a deadline, attorneys for Morva sought a stay.

"We didn't want to take a chance," said Tom Blaylock of Roanoke.

The Supreme Court granted the stay Oct. 8, giving both sides in the case additional time to file their appeals.

Morva will now remain on death row while the high court considers his case, with a decision expected by late next year. After that, Morva could exercise another round of appeals that could take several more years to complete.

Earlier this year, a jury heard how Morva, an inmate at the Montgomery County Jail in 2006, escaped during a hospital visit by beating a sheriff's deputy unconscious and then fatally shooting security guard Derrick McFarland.

The following morning, as police launched a massive manhunt for Morva, he killed Montgomery County Sheriff's Cpl. Eric Sutphin.

Morva was convicted of three counts of capital murder and sentenced to death.