Reply To: What if the Witnesses Don’t Want to Kill Him?

Wolf
It’s not clear that a flat out refusal would still result in the courts carrying out the sentence.
Sanhedrin 45b and Rambam Sanhedrin 14:8 State a specific case. The case involves witnesses who hands were chopped off after the verdict was finalized. And the result is the death penalty will not be carried out bc the pasuk says “The hands of the witnesses should be a first”(devarim 17:7)
The rambam States that a murderer is an exception to the rule. In regards to a murderer the rule is is that if he’s trying to escape anybody should kill him in anyway possible.
strictly based on these sources I would say that if the witnesses run away absolutely the Death penalty will not be carried out