PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of a convicted murderer who killed himself in prison.

James McVay was found hanging by a sheet in his State Penitentiary cell on Sept. 4. His death was ruled a suicide.

The 44-year-old McVay pleaded guilty but mentally ill to murder in the 2011 stabbing of 75-year-old Maybelle Schein and was sentenced to death.

Authorities say McVay killed Schein and stole her car as part of a plan to drive to the nation's capital and kill the president.

Attorney General Marty Jackley on Wednesday said McVay's appeal had been dismissed.

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