Longest Execution In Ohio: Why Did Convicted Killer Die Slowly?


The longest execution on record in the state of Ohio saw convicted killer Dennis McGuire suffer a slow, and possibly painful death. The reason for the drawn out execution was the fact that Ohio state executors used new “dual-medication” in the lethal injection for the first time.

The Inquisitr reported on the execution of Dennis McGuire yesterday:

Dennis McGuire sat motionless for more than five minutes after he was injected with the new lethal injection cocktail. He then reportedly let out a loud snort, like a snore, followed by a few more over the space of a few minutes.

According to eyewitnesses at the execution, McGuire then opened and shut his mouth a few times silently as his stomach rose and fell.McGuire’s daughter, Amber McGuire, who was present at the execution shouted out “Oh my God” as she watched her father take his last few breaths.

It was revealed today that the victim took around 26 minutes to die. He received the fatal injection at 10:27 am on Thursday. but wasn’t pronounced dead till 10:53 am. Traditionally, with the original medication, death row inmates given a lethal injection usually take less than 15 minutes before passing away.

The unusually slow death amounted to torture, according to Dennis McGuire’s son, Dennis: “I don’t feel like anybody deserves that — families, or my dad, anybody on death row — nobody deserves to go through that,” he said.

The attorney representing McGuire’s children, John Paul Rion, said the execution was cruel:

“The question is whether or not the state of Ohio should duplicate the actions of a criminal. And our answer is no. If we are going to condemn the actions of a person as being wrong because it creates pain, because it creates victims, because it creates an injustice, because it deprives people of life unjustly, then the state of Ohio should not duplicate those actions.”

Two drugs were administered to McGuire intravenously, the strong sedative midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone. The new chemical cocktail was given mainly because medical companies refused to supply the previous drugs for capital punishment.

Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said:

“Judges will now realize that the warnings being raised about these untried procedures are not just false alarms. States will now have more of a burden to show that they are using a well-thought-out best practice.”

It remains to be seen what the reaction will be from state officials on the longest execution in Ohio and if the medication used in the lethal injection will be changed.

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