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Tag: Dennis McGuire

  • Ohio Executes Killer and His Family Sues

    When a criminal is convicted and faces execution, it is a difficult scenario for the family to endure. But when execution day comes and officials in charge of the execution botch things in a major way, it can cause serious emotional damage to that prisoner’s family.

    And it did – The family of the Ohio man, Dennis McGuire, who was executed with a new lethal mixture of drugs on Thursday is pursuing a lawsuit to assure that other death row inmates do not experience the same execution circumstances he did, the family and their attorney said Friday.

    “I can’t think of any other way to describe it than torture,” said Amber McGuire, the adult daughter of Dennis McGuire, who was put to death on Thursday by use of a combination of drugs that had never been used for capital punishment before.

    Dennis McGuire was sentenced to death for the 1989 rape and murder of a 22-year-old pregnant newlywed, Joy Stewart. Her sister, Carol Avery commented that although they are Christians and can forgive McGuire, her sister suffered terror and pain and that McGuire was treated more humanely as a death row inmate than he treated Joy.

    McGuire’s lawyers tried to delay his execution, arguing that the new drug method could lead to a medical phenomenon known as “air hunger” and could cause him to suffer “agony and terror.”

    Apparently they were right. It took 25 minutes for his death after the lethal drugs began flowing into his veins. This execution was noted as the longest on record since Ohio reinstated capital punishment in 1999.

    Witnesses say that McGuire, 53, made “loud snorting noises” as if he was gasping and in extreme distress.

    The killer combination of drugs used was the sedative midazolam and pain killer hydromorphone, a mix Ohio added as a substitute option in case it had difficulty obtaining pentobarbital, a drug whose manufacturer has objected to its use in executions.

    But, lets not forget, the man was being executed for a horrific and painful death he committed to a young pregnant woman.

    Assistant Attorney General Thomas Madden had argued that while the U.S. Constitution bans cruel and unusual punishment, “you’re not entitled to a pain-free execution.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Ohio Executes Killer Using New Drug Method

    On Thursday, Ohio executed its first death row inmate using a new two-drug procedure. Ohio became the first state to use the new method on 53-year-old Dennis McGuire. McGuire was convicted in 1994 for killing a pregnant woman, Joy Stewart, in 1989.

    Ohio had to find a new method of execution due to the limited supply of pentobarbital. The new two-drug method uses a mixture of a sedative called midazolam a pain killer called hydromorphone. McGuire had previously asked for a stay of execution because the new drug combination had never been used in the United States, and it was rumored to cause extreme pain. However, the court denied his request, and the execution remained scheduled for Thursday.

    It appears that the rumors may have been true, as McGuire was seen gasping for air and struggling for approximately fifteen minutes after the drugs were injected. McGuire was officially declared dead at 10:53 a.m. Thursday.

    With his last words, McGuire thanked the family of Stewart for a letter they had sent him, and said “I’m sorry.” He then addressed his family that included his two children. “To my children I love you,” he said to his son and daughter. “I’m going to heaven, I’ll see you there when you come.” He yelled “I love you” around 10:29 a.m. right as the drugs started kicking in. “Oh, my God,” his daughter, Amber McGuire, said as she watched her father’s final struggle.

    After witnessing their father’s death, McGuire’s children decided to file a lawsuit regarding the way their father was executed. “All citizens have a right to expect that they will not be treated or punished in a cruel and unusual way,” defense attorney Jon Paul Rion said. “Today’s actions violated that constitutional expectation.”

    Allen Bohnert, McGuire’s attorney, called McGuire’s death “a failed, agonizing experiment” and then added: “The people of the state of Ohio should be appalled at what was done here today in their names.”

    “We have forgiven him, but that does not negate the need for him to pay for his actions,” Stewart’s family said in a statement following the execution.

    Image via NDN