As Clock Ticks, Ross' Fate Unclear.

By Lynne Tuohy, The Hartford Courant, Conn. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jan. 27--Twenty-four hours from now serial killer Michael Ross will be dead.

Or not.

That is how unsettled the legal landscape remained this morning, with the execution scheduled for 2 a.m. Friday.

The U.S. Supreme Court has indicated it will rule today on whether the stay of the execution issued Tuesday by a Hartford federal judge and upheld Wednesday by a federal appeals court will stand.

Adding to the uncertainty is a second order issued Wednesday by that same judge, Chief U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny, halting the execution.

Chatigny issued a temporary restraining order in a civil rights challenge brought by Ross' father, Dan Ross, who claims he will be denied his constitutional right to associate with his son if Michael Ross is executed before the issue of whether he is truly "volunteering" to be executed is resolved.

Michael Ross, 45, has opted to forgo appeals still open to him and be executed. He is represented by private counsel, T.R. Paulding, and has been found mentally competent to make that decision by an array of …