Latest news with #lethalInjection
The Independent
6 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
South Carolina inmate chooses to die by lethal injection amid concerns about firing squad
South Carolina death row inmate Stephen Stanko on Friday chose to die by lethal injection after his lawyers said he was troubled by what appeared to be a lingering death of the last person in the state who was killed by a firing squad. Stanko, who set to die June 13, had a choice among firing squad, lethal injection or the electric chair. His lawyers said in previous court filings he didn't want to suffer what he thought was cooking from thousands of volts of electricity. Firing squad questions They said he was leaning toward the firing squad before questions surfaced about whether Mikal Mahdi suffered agonizing pain for about 45 seconds — three times longer than expected — at his April 11 execution after the firing squad nearly missed his heart. In reviewing autopsy reports, attorneys told him the state's lethal injection protocols appear to send a rush of fluid into the lungs that feels like drowning when a lethal dose of pentobarbital is put into the inmate's veins. Stanko's lawyers had asked the South Carolina Supreme Court to delay his execution so they could get more information about the firing squad or further investigate any potential problems, but the justices refused their request Wednesday. South Carolina's multiple executions Stanko, 57, has been sentenced to death twice in the state for two separate murders — the killing of a friend and the killing of his girlfriend as he raped her daughter. South Carolina restarted executions in September after obtaining pentobarbital used in lethal injections thanks to a new secrecy law. The state didn't execute a prisoner from 2011 to 2024 after its supply of lethal injection drugs expired and pharmacies refused to sell them more unless their identities could be kept secret. The crimes Stanko is being executed for killing his 74-year-old friend Henry Turner. Stanko went to Turner's home in April 2006 after lying about his father dying, and shot Turner twice while using a pillow as a silencer, authorities said. Stanko stole Turner's truck, cleaned out his bank account and spent the next few days in Augusta, Georgia, where he told people in town for the Masters golf tournament that he owned several Hooters restaurants. He stayed with a woman who took him to church. She called police once after seeing his photo and learning that he was wanted, police said. Hours before killing Turner, Stanko beat and strangled his girlfriend in her home and raped her daughter before slashing the teen's throat. The daughter survived and testified against him at one of his trials. How the lethal injection will happen During Stanko's execution, he will be strapped to a gurney with his arm outstretched. Medical workers will place an IV in his arm before the curtain is opened to the witness room. His lawyer can read a final statement and then the execution will start with no announcement. It has typically taken about 20 minutes before a doctor comes in, checks the inmate and declares him dead. Autopsies done on two of the three previous inmates killed by lethal injection in South Carolina in the past year have shown their lungs filled with massive amounts of fluid. Experts said that is what usually happens when someone is given a massive dose of pentobarbital. Medical experts hired by the state said the drug knocks the inmate unconscious before they ever feel any other sensation or pain. Witnesses to the executions said inmates don't have any signs of consciousness after about 30 seconds. Other experts hired by lawyers for the inmates said prisoners may still be able to feel and that the rush of fluid is like drowning. One of the three inmates killed by lethal injection last year did not choose to have an autopsy for religious reasons. Two doses of the drug In the three most recent lethal injection deaths, prison officials have given two large doses of the sedative pentobarbital about 10 minutes apart. Most other states and the federal government give just one dose of the drug but have a second on hand if needed. Prison officials have not said why they are giving two doses or whether that is part of their normal procedures, citing a 2023 law that keeps secret the providers of lethal injection drugs, the identities of members of execution teams and the procedures used.
Associated Press
6 days ago
- Health
- Associated Press
South Carolina inmate chooses to die by lethal injection amid concerns about firing squad
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina death row inmate Stephen Stanko on Friday chose to die by lethal injection after his lawyers said he was troubled by what appeared to be a lingering death of the last person in the state who was killed by a firing squad. Stanko, who set to die June 13, had a choice among firing squad, lethal injection or the electric chair. His lawyers said in previous court filings he didn't want to suffer what he thought was cooking from thousands of volts of electricity. Firing squad questions They said he was leaning toward the firing squad before questions surfaced about whether Mikal Mahdi suffered agonizing pain for about 45 seconds — three times longer than expected — at his April 11 execution after the firing squad nearly missed his heart. In reviewing autopsy reports, attorneys told him the state's lethal injection protocols appear to send a rush of fluid into the lungs that feels like drowning when a lethal dose of pentobarbital is put into the inmate's veins. Stanko's lawyers had asked the South Carolina Supreme Court to delay his execution so they could get more information about the firing squad or further investigate any potential problems, but the justices refused their request Wednesday. South Carolina's multiple executions Stanko, 57, has been sentenced to death twice in the state for two separate murders — the killing of a friend and the killing of his girlfriend as he raped her daughter. South Carolina restarted executions in September after obtaining pentobarbital used in lethal injections thanks to a new secrecy law. The state didn't execute a prisoner from 2011 to 2024 after its supply of lethal injection drugs expired and pharmacies refused to sell them more unless their identities could be kept secret. The crimes Stanko is being executed for killing his 74-year-old friend Henry Turner. Stanko went to Turner's home in April 2006 after lying about his father dying, and shot Turner twice while using a pillow as a silencer, authorities said. Stanko stole Turner's truck, cleaned out his bank account and spent the next few days in Augusta, Georgia, where he told people in town for the Masters golf tournament that he owned several Hooters restaurants. He stayed with a woman who took him to church. She called police once after seeing his photo and learning that he was wanted, police said. Hours before killing Turner, Stanko beat and strangled his girlfriend in her home and raped her daughter before slashing the teen's throat. The daughter survived and testified against him at one of his trials. How the lethal injection will happen During Stanko's execution, he will be strapped to a gurney with his arm outstretched. Medical workers will place an IV in his arm before the curtain is opened to the witness room. His lawyer can read a final statement and then the execution will start with no announcement. It has typically taken about 20 minutes before a doctor comes in, checks the inmate and declares him dead. Autopsies done on two of the three previous inmates killed by lethal injection in South Carolina in the past year have shown their lungs filled with massive amounts of fluid. Experts said that is what usually happens when someone is given a massive dose of pentobarbital. Medical experts hired by the state said the drug knocks the inmate unconscious before they ever feel any other sensation or pain. Witnesses to the executions said inmates don't have any signs of consciousness after about 30 seconds. Other experts hired by lawyers for the inmates said prisoners may still be able to feel and that the rush of fluid is like drowning. One of the three inmates killed by lethal injection last year did not choose to have an autopsy for religious reasons. Two doses of the drug In the three most recent lethal injection deaths, prison officials have given two large doses of the sedative pentobarbital about 10 minutes apart. Most other states and the federal government give just one dose of the drug but have a second on hand if needed. Prison officials have not said why they are giving two doses or whether that is part of their normal procedures, citing a 2023 law that keeps secret the providers of lethal injection drugs, the identities of members of execution teams and the procedures used.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- CTV News
Tennessee man is executed for killing his wife and her 2 sons, 3 years after last-minute reprieve
Capital punishment protesters pray on the grounds of the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the scheduled execution of inmate Oscar Smith, April 21, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee inmate Oscar Smith was executed by lethal injection on Thursday morning for the 1989 murders of his estranged wife Judith Smith and her teenage sons, Jason and Chad Burnett. Smith, 75, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital at 10:10 a.m. The 75-year-old had maintained his innocence, and in a lengthy series of final words, in part said, 'Somebody needs to tell the governor the justice system doesn't work.' Witnesses also heard Smith say, 'I didn't kill her.' In a recent interview with AP, he primarily wanted to discuss the ways he felt the court system had failed him. He was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting Judith Smith, 13-year-old Jason Burnett and 16-year-old Chad Burnett at their Nashville, Tennessee, home on Oct. 1, 1989. He was sentenced to death by a Davidson County jury in July 1990 for the murders. In 2022, a Davidson County Criminal Court judge denied requests to reopen his case despite some new evidence that the DNA of an unknown person was on one of the murder weapons. The judge wrote that the evidence of Smith's guilt was overwhelming and the DNA evidence did not tip the scales in his favor. Two of Smith's co-workers testified at trial that he had solicited them to kill Judith Smith, and he had a history of threats and violence against her and the boys. Smith had also taken out insurance policies on all three victims. And one of the child victims could be heard yelling what prosecutors said was, 'Frank, no!' in the background of a 911 call on the night of the murder. Frank is Smith's middle name and the one that he used regularly. Darlene Kimbrough, who knows Smith through her visits to another inmate on death row over the past decade, said she sent him a card recently. It just said, '`I hope you know that you are loved,'' Kimbrough said. Unexpectedly, she received a letter in reply on Tuesday, thanking her. She thinks that Smith was at peace with the idea of death, she said. Tennessee executions have been on hold for five years, first because of COVID-19 and then because of missteps by the Tennessee Department of Correction. Smith came within minutes of execution in 2022 before he was saved by a surprise reprieve from Republican Gov. Bill Lee. It later turned out the lethal drugs that were going to be used had not been properly tested. A yearlong investigation turned up numerous other problems with Tennessee executions. The correction department issued new guidelines for executions in December. The new execution manual contains a single page on the lethal injection chemicals with no specific directions for testing the drugs. It also removes the requirement that the drugs come from a licensed pharmacist. Smith's attorney, Amy Harwell, has said, 'It's as if, having been caught breaking their own rules, TDOC decided, `Let's just not have rules.'' The new protocols are the subject of a lawsuit filed by Smith and other death row inmates. A trial in that case is set for next January. Travis Loller, The Associated Press
Washington Post
22-05-2025
- Washington Post
Tennessee man faces execution for killing his wife and her 2 sons, 3 years after surprise reprieve
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee man who killed his wife and her two teenage sons was scheduled to be executed on Thursday morning, three years after he was saved by a last-minute reprieve . Oscar Smith, 75, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital at 10:10 a.m. Smith has always claimed to be innocent, and in an interview with The Associated Press recently, he primarily wanted to discuss the ways he felt the court system had failed him.
The Sun
21-05-2025
- The Sun
Killer's creepy final message to family of victim he burned to death moments before 26minute lethal injection execution
A KILLER who burned an elderly store clerk to death gave a chilling message to the victim's family moments before he was executed. Matthew Lee Johnson's 26-minute death by lethal injection came exactly 13 years after he set great-grandma Nancy Harris, 76, alight during a robbery. 3 3 The clerk suffered severe burns and died several days later following the convenience store heist in Dallas, 2012. Depraved Johnson, 49, was pronounced dead at 6:53pm on Tuesday. His eventual death came about 26 minutes after officials injected a cocktail of drugs into his arm at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. Leading up to the execution, Johnson begged the victim's family for forgiveness. Turning to a window a few feet away where Harris' family were watching the execution - the sick killer pleaded with the grieving relatives. After begging for forgiveness - he bizarrely stated that he wanted to see slain Harris again. Johnson said: 'As I look at each one of you, I can see her on that day. 'I please ask for your forgiveness. I never meant to hurt her." He stated: "I pray that she's the first person I see when I open my eyes and I spend eternity with." The death row inmate also asked his wife and daughters to forgive him. I'm a death row executioner - a killer's head burst into flames when I put him in electric chair The dad said: 'I made wrong choices, I've made wrong decisions, and now I pay the consequences.' Since the heinous attack was partially caught on camera, Harris was able to describe Johnson before she succumbed to her injuries. During his 2013 trial, Johnson admitted to the brutal burning. He expressed regret for the murder and branded himself "the lowest scum of the earth". The murderer claimed he was high on crack when he set the victim on fire and was therefore not aware of his actions. He said at the time: 'I hurt an innocent woman. I took a human being's life. I was the cause of that. Lethal injection controversy in South Carolina By Patrick Harrington, foreign news reporter THE three most recent executions in South Carolina were by lethal injection, and the cases have sparked controversy. It took around 20 minutes before each of the three men were officially declared dead. Complicating the situation is a law passed in 2023 which restricts much of the information about executions being made public. It requires the identities of execution team members remain secret and forbids the publication of information about how the drugs are bought by the state. This follows a growing number of pharmaceutical companies refusing to sell their drugs to be used in executions. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit challenging the state law in January. It wrote: "This ban not only further departs from the state's history of making execution-related information publicly available but criminalizes the disclosure of this information by anyone for any reason. "It thus silences the scientists, doctors, journalists, former correctional officials, lawyers, and citizens who have scrutinized the safety, efficacy, morality, and legality of South Carolina's use of lethal injection." The state has released only one of two available autopsies from the recent executions, and Brad Sigmon's lawyers say it shows an unusual amount of fluid in the man's lungs. 'It was not my intentions to — to kill her or to hurt her, but I did.' The killer's legal team previously argued their client had a drug addiction and was sexually abused as a child. Harris was survived by four sons, 11 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. It comes after a serial killer once linked to the OJ Simpson murder case sent a message to Donald Trump in the final moments before he was executed. Glen Rogers, who claimed to have killed up to 70 people, was put to death by lethal injection on May 15 at Florida State Prison. The 62-year-old, dubbed the Casanova Killer due to his charm and good looks, was executed for the 1995 slaying of a woman in a Tampa motel.
