Aaron Gunches executed in Arizona: What to know

Yahoo

20-03-2025

The state of Arizona has executed someone for the first time in two years.
Aaron Gunches, who advocated for his death, was executed at 10:33 a.m. Wednesday at a prison facility in Florence.
Gunches was sentenced to death for the 2002 murder of Ted Price, a former longtime boyfriend of Gunches' girlfriend. Gunches kidnapped and shot Price multiple times in a desert area off the Beeline Highway.
He was the first person killed by the state of Arizona since 2022 and the fourth since 2014.
The Arizona Republic was one of the media outlets that was allowed to observe Gunches' execution.
Here's everything you need to know.
Gunches' last meal included a double "Western" bacon cheeseburger with fries, a spicy gyro, a barbecue gyro and onion rings, according to an Arizona Department of Corrections spokesperson. For dessert, he had baklava.
At least 18 people witnessed Gunches' execution, according to media witnesses. Among the witnesses were Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, prisons Director Ryan Thornell and Karen Price, Ted Price's sister.
Gunches had one legal witness and one nonlegal witness.
Republic reporter Jimmy Jenkins was one of five journalists who observed the execution.
Witnesses said there appeared to be no struggle with inserting the IVs into Gunches' arms.
IV placement has been an issue. The last three men executed by lethal injection were: Clarence Dixon, Frank Atwood and Murray Hooper. The execution teams struggled to insert IVs into all three men, resorting to using a femoral vein in two instances.
Media witnesses on Wednesday said at a briefing that the process appeared to go smoothly. A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said the execution went according to plan.
Gunches, who wore a white jumpsuit with white socks, was read his death warrant after the IV needles were inserted into each of his arms.
Asked if he had any last words, he shook his head "no."
There was a four-person IV team and drugs were administered beginning at 10:14 a.m., witnesses said.
Within 2 minutes, Gunches began to show signs of the drugs taking effect, witnesses said. They reported he exhaled loudly several times. Then they said he appeared to stop moving and the color slowly drifted from his face.
At 10:22 a.m., a medical team member checked Gunches' pulse. The room was quiet for nearly 10 minutes until an official announced the time of death through an intercom, witnesses said.
Ted Price, a former longtime boyfriend of Gunches' girlfriend, moved to Arizona in 2002 and was waiting on a college grant to become a radiology technician. He intended to stay with his ex-girlfriend, but upon arriving, Price found that she was living in a flop house for drug addicts in Mesa, Price's family told USA TODAY.
Price was a quiet but kind person who loved cats and muscle cars, his family told USA TODAY.
Price was a stay-at-home dad to his ex-girlfriend's two children for 10 years before their separation, according to his sister, Karen Price.
He had begun studying to become a radiology technician in Utah after the breakup and was to continue that education in Arizona.
On Nov. 14, 2002, Price and his ex began arguing, and it got increasingly heated, ending when she hit Price with a telephone, according to court records.
Gunches arrived at the apartment later that evening and directed the woman's roommates to put Price and his belongings in a car to take him to the bus station. But Gunches didn't end up having money for a bus ticket, so he and one of the roommates drove Price out of Mesa, according to court records.
When they reached a desolate desert area, Gunches and Price got out of the car, and Gunches shot Price four times, one of the roommates told investigators. Gunches and the roommate returned to Mesa, only stopping once to dispose of Price's belongings in a dumpster, according to court records. Price's body was discovered days later.
On Jan. 15, 2003, Gunches was arrested in La Paz County after shooting an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper during a traffic stop. The officer was hit in his Kevlar vest and survived.
Investigators matched the bullets used in the La Paz County shooting with those used in Price's death, according to court records.
Karen Price said at the post-execution briefing that she struggled to find the words to convey what the execution of her brother's killer meant to her and her family. But she said she felt justice was served.
She said she was grateful for all those who were involved in helping the family through the long legal process. She said her brother's two children have spent more than half their lives without their father.
The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry released a statement on Wednesday morning from Brittney Price, Ted Price's daughter.
"I have waited for this moment for 23 long years. Today as I close this chapter of my life, I feel a huge weight has been lifted, allowing me to breathe for the first time in a long time. I can finally begin to move forward with my life," Brittney Price said. "The pain of reliving the circumstances surrounding my father's death for over two decades has taken a significant toll on my family and me. Today marks the end of that painful chapter and I couldn't be more grateful. "
Mayes, who witnessed the execution, said it was a solemn day that Price's family had waited more than two decades for.
"Today, Arizona resumed the death penalty, and justice for Ted Price and his family was finally served," Mayes said.
Mitchell said in a statement after the briefing that seeking the death penalty was the most serious decision she makes and noted it was reserved for "the worst of the worst in our society."
"It also brings justice to victims and families of those who are harmed in horrific ways," Mitchell said. "While ending a life is never something to be celebrated, it is a penalty provided for in law. It serves to provide some closure and relief for those who often have been waiting for decades.'
State Rep. Patty Contreras, D-Phoenix, lamented Gunches' execution in a floor speech at the Arizona House of Representatives, noting capital punishment was banned in 23 states and not allowed in most countries around the world.
She called it 'disheartening' that Arizona had resumed the use of the death penalty and urged the governor and attorney general to reconsider moving ahead with any future executions.
Gunches' legal witness said though everything appeared peaceful on the outside, the lethal drugs used on him were known to "be excruciatingly painful" because the lungs fill with water.
"There is a sensation of drowning from within and not being able to do anything about it. It is like being waterboarded to death," Dale Baich added.
On taking office in 2023, Gov. Katie Hobbs and Mayes, both Democrats, suspended executions pending a review of the state's capital punishment system by an independent commissioner.
Hobbs said the review was needed because "Arizona has a history of mismanaged executions that have resulted in serious questions and concerns" about the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry's execution protocols and lack of transparency.
But the governor ended the review before it was finished, saying she had lost confidence in the effort.
County Attorney Mitchell, a Republican, had been putting pressure on Mayes to pursue Gunches' execution and eventually attempted to get his death warrant from the Arizona Supreme Court on her own, challenging the attorney general's exclusive authority to make such a request. Mitchell's efforts, however, were rendered moot after Mayes filed a death warrant request, which was granted by the court in February.
Hobbs cited an "execution preparedness" review that the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry sent her on Nov. 22 as proof the state was ready to proceed with putting prisoners to death.
Eyewitness account: Arizona promises transparent resumption of death penalty. For witnesses, much is unseen
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Aaron Gunches executed in Arizona: What to know