Ohio killer executed with controversial drugs

[George II]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- Ohio inmate Dennis McGuire appeared to gasp several times and took as long as 15 minutes to die Thursday during his execution by lethal injection, reporters who witnessed it said.

He was convicted in 1994 of the rape and murder of Joy Stewart, whose relatives were at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville to witness his death, according to tweets from television reporter Sheila Gray.

McGuire's "children and daughter-in-law were crying and visibly upset," Gray tweeted.

The execution, at 10:53 a.m. ET, has generated controversy because, like many states, Ohio has been forced to find new drug protocols after European-based manufacturers banned U.S. prisons from using their drugs in executions -- among them, Danish-based Lundbeck, which manufactures pentobarbital.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/16/justice/ohio-dennis-mcguire-execution/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

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"McGuire appeared to gasp several times and took as long as 15 minutes to die Thursday"

And the United States is supposed to be one of the most civilized and humane on the face of the earth?

WHEN is this barbaric practice going to stop?

[BuddhaGirl]

1. Barbaric indeed

The DP has ZERO place in a civilized society!!

[hlthe2b]

2. The state used a combination of the drugs midazolam, a sedative, and the painkiller hydromorphone

rather than pentobarbitol...

Anyone who has seen a morphine overdose death or near death should not be surprised at the duration and description of death... Morphine overdose in a seriously debilitated chronically ill and dying individual is one thing... Trying to use it to kill a healthy individual sans barbiturates is quite another.

Truthfully, though, I oppose the death penalty and always have.

[George II]

3. I was referring to the death penalty in general as the "barbaric act", not the methods

[hlthe2b]

4. I think there may be a case for the method to be "barbaric" as well...

[George II]

5. Oh yes, of course. I wish we didn't stoop to the level of taking another person's life....

....no matter what conditions of the crime.

I never thought that a person should be punished for committing a crime (murder) by committing the same crime (death penalty)

[geardaddy]

6. Or we could take Nancy Grace's advice

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024340654

[George II]

7. Nah, I can't agree with that nasty shrew...

...there are ZERO humane options for executing prisoners.

God created man and woman, let God decide how they are to die.

[geardaddy]

8. I was being sarcastic, btw

[George II]

9. Actually I might consider her advice, as long as she "test drives" one of her methods!!!

[geardaddy]

10. Zing!

Yes.

[bigdarryl]

11. Is there video of this

[totodeinhere]

12. This man was forced to endure ten minutes of unspeakable agony before he

finally expired. No civilized country should allow this. When oh when are the courts ever going to eliminate capital punishment nationwide once and for all? Realistically that is the only way it's going happen.

And when is President Obama going to come out unequivocally in opposition to capital punishment? He saw the light on gay marriage to his credit. Now he needs to change his position on capital punishment as well. His leadership is sorely needed on this issue.

[George II]

13. Unfortunately the death penalty isn't a national issue - each state makes its own laws...

..the US has the death penalty for certain crimes, too, but I think it's only been used once since WWII, with Timothy McVeigh.

[totodeinhere]

18. The federal courts have the power to declare the death penalty unconstitutional

nationwide they would just do it.

[NutmegYankee]

15. It's doubtful he experienced any agony.

He was very likely never conscious of any of the struggle for breath.

[totodeinhere]

17. Witnesses had a gruesome account of the execution

After being injected at 10:29 a.m., about four minutes later McGuire started struggling and gasping loudly for air, making snorting and choking sounds which lasted for at least 10 minutes. His chest heaved and his left fist clinched as deep, snorting sounds emanated from his mouth. However, for the last several minutes before he was pronounced dead, he was still.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/01/16/mcguire-execution.html

[NutmegYankee]

21. But that's not evidence of suffering.

He still may not have been conscious of that.

[yurbud]

14. I'm not a supporter of the death penalty, but what is it they use to put dogs down?

That's looks damn near instant.

[George II]

16. Possibly the same thing they used to use for prisoners, but the article states...

....that the company that makes the chemicals previously used has refused to sell it for executions any longer.

[yurbud]

20. it would be more humane to put them in a meat locker and let them freeze to death

[Judi Lynn]

19. Ohio killer's execution takes almost 25 minutes

Ohio killer's execution takes almost 25 minutes
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS, AP Legal Affairs Writer | January 16, 2014 | Updated: January 16, 2014 9:16pm

LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A condemned man appeared to gasp several times and took an unusually long time to die — more than 20 minutes — in an execution carried out Thursday with a combination of drugs never before tried in the U.S.

Dennis McGuire's attorney Allen Bohnert called the convicted killer's death "a failed, agonizing experiment" and added: "The people of the state of Ohio should be appalled at what was done here today in their names."

An attorney for McGuire's family said it plans to sue the state over what happened.

McGuire's lawyers had attempted last week to block his execution, arguing that the untried method could lead to a medical phenomenon known as "air hunger" and could cause him to suffer "agony and terror" while struggling to catch his breath.

McGuire, 53, made loud snorting noises during one of the longest executions since Ohio resumed capital punishment in 1999. Nearly 25 minutes passed between the time the lethal drugs began flowing and McGuire was pronounced dead at 10:53 a.m.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Ohio-killer-s-execution-takes-almost-25-minutes-5147631.php

[christx30]

22. I wonder how long

it took him to rape and murder his victim. He got all of the due process of discovery, trial, and appeals. He had time to prepare for his death.
He could have chosen to leave Ms. Stewart alone. If he had, he could be alive, out of prison. Maybe he could have gotten a job and a wife. But he chose the wrong path. His need to destroy overpowered his humanity. And Joy Stewart's family has been without her for 20 years because of it.
I'm not saying he got what he deserved. But I don't have much sympathy for the man. He chose his path.