Killer Gasps in Ohio Execution With New Drugs Combo

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This story was published: 20 minutes ago January 17, 2014 6:49AM

Dennis McGuire has been executed with a new drug combo for raping and killing a pregnant woman. Source: AP

AN OHIO killer gasped several times during his prolonged execution with the first use of a lethal injection process never before tried in the US.

Dennis McGuire was still for almost five minutes, then emitted a loud snort, as if snoring, and continued to make that sound over the next several minutes. He also opened and shut his mouth several times without making a sound as his stomach rose and fell.

"Oh my God,'' his daughter, Amber McGuire, said as she observed her father's final moments. His adult children sobbed in a witness room as they watched him die.

The whole process took nearly 15 minutes.

In trying to stop his execution, McGuire's lawyers had argued that he was at substantial risk of a medical phenomenon known as air hunger, which would cause him to experience terror as he strains to catch his breath.

McGuire, 53, was sentenced to die for the 1989 rape and fatal stabbing of a young pregnant woman. He acknowledged that he was responsible in a letter to Governor John Kasich last month.

Ohio's never-tried lethal injection method was adopted after the maker of the state's previous drug put it off limits for capital punishment.

Some states that still carry out executions have struggled to find drug supplies for lethal injections after companies refused to supply the drugs for that purpose.

Capital punishment continues to be a much-debated subject in the United States. In all, 39 executions were carried out last year, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre.

"I'm going to heaven, I'll see you there when you come,'' McGuire said shortly before his execution. He opened and shut his left hand several times before the drugs took effect, appearing to wave to his children.

Previous executions with the former execution drugs took much less time, and typically did not include the types of snorts and gasps that McGuire uttered.

State attorneys had disputed claims that McGuire would experience terror as he was put to death with the new method. A federal judge sided with the state but acknowledged the new method was an experiment.

Ohio officials used intravenous doses of two drugs, the sedative midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone, to put McGuire to death.

Prison officials said McGuire was awake all night talking on the phone and writing letters. He also had emotional final visits with family members, including his son and daughter.

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a last-minute request to delay his execution after his legal team argued that a jury never got to hear the full extent of his chaotic and abusive childhood.

Documents show McGuire unsuccessfully sought a reprieve in recent weeks to try to become an organ donor. In November, the governor granted a death row inmate an eight-month reprieve to let the prison system study his request to donate a kidney to his sister and his heart to his mother.

But the governor said McGuire couldn't identify a family member who would receive his organs, as required under prison policy.
http://www.news.com.au/world/killer-dennis-mcguire-gasps-in-ohio-execution-with-new-drugs-combo/story-fndir2ev-1226803702960