The apparent suicide of a Nevada prison inmate who tried several times to kill himself after his execution was postponed is sparking second-guessing about his treatment and the death penalty itself.

A prison spokeswoman said Monday that 48-year-old Scott Raymond Dozier was not on suicide watch when he was founded hanged with a bedsheet Saturday in his solo death-row cell at Ely State Prison.

White Pine County Sheriff-Coroner Scott Henriod says there's no evidence of foul play.

Dozier was a twice-convicted murderer who declared he wanted to die.

But he let lawyers challenge the untried three-drug combination Nevada planned to use.

Drug companies also sued to block use of their products in an execution.

Las Vegas public defense attorney Scott Coffee compares Dozier's case to mental torture.

(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

ORIGINAL STORY: 

A judge has banned the Nevada prison system from using its supply of a drug in the lethal injection of a convicted killer.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez wrote late Friday afternoon that Nevada prison officials obtained drug manufacturer Alvogen's sedative midazolam through "subterfuge," or deceit, adding that the purchase was made in "stark contrast" to previous attempts to buy medication for capital punishment.

The ban essentially shuts down the possible execution of Scott Dozier for the foreseeable future.

Dozier's execution was halted in July, for the second time in nine months, after Alvogen sued the prison system.

Midazolam was one of three drugs set to be part of Dozier's lethal injection.

Back in July, Alvogen's restraining order put the execution on hold for a second time, but prison officials quickly filed a petition in the Nevada Supreme Court to appeal the stay.

A hearing was set for September, but oral arguments were vacated at the request of Alvogen.

It's unclear if the state will file another motion following the judge's decision.

Dozier was sentenced to die in 2007 after first-degree murder and robbery convictions in the killing of Jeremiah Miller.

Dozier would be the first prisoner executed in Nevada since 2006.

The Nevada Department of Corrections released this statement: 

"The NDOC respects the court ruling and plans to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court."

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)