An Oklahoma death-row inmate died of a heart attack Tuesday night after his execution was halted because the lethal injection of three drugs was botched.
The execution of a second convicted murderer was postponed.
Corrections Director Robert Patton halted the execution of Clayton Lockett about 20 minutes after the first drug was administered, the Associated Press reported. He said there was a vein failure that prevented the deadly chemicals from reaching Lockett.
This file photo combinations of images provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Clayton Lockett, left, and Charles Warner. Lockett and Warner, two death row inmates whose executions were delayed while they challenged the secrecy behind the state's lethal injection protocol, are scheduled to die Tuesday evening in Oklahoma's first double execution in nearly 80 years.(Photo: AP Photo/Oklahoma Department of Corrections, File)
Witnesses said Lockett was writhing on the gurney and shaking uncontrollably.
Patton said he died after receiving all three drugs.
Here's how The Oklahoman described the scene at the death house in McAlester:
Lockett grimaced and tensed his body several times over a three minute period before the execution was shielded from the press. After being declared unconscious ten minutes into the process, Lockett spoke at three separate moments. The first two were inaudible, however the third time he spoke, Lockett said the word 'man.'
The paper said officials then closed the curtains 16 minutes into the execution, and ended it 20 minutes later.
It was the first time since 1937 that two men were to have been executed on the same day in Oklahoma, although it has happened in other states since the death penalty was reinstated in the U.S. in 1976. The last double execution was in Texas in 2000.
Lockett, 38, was scheduled to die at 6 p.m. Tuesday. A four-time felon, Lockett was convicted of shooting 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman with a sawed-off shotgun and watching as two accomplices buried her alive in rural Kay County in 1999 after Neiman and a friend arrived at a home the men were robbing.
Charles Warner's execution was set for 8 p.m. Tuesday. The 46-year-old was convicted of raping and killing his roommate's 11-month-old daughter in 1997. He has maintained his innocence.
Lockett and Warner had sued the state for refusing to disclose details about the execution drugs, including where Oklahoma obtained them.
The case, filed as a civil matter, placed Oklahoma's two highest courts at odds and prompted calls for the impeachment of state Supreme Court justices after the court last week issued a rare stay of execution. The high court later dissolved its stay and dismissed the inmates' claim that they were entitled to know the source of the drugs.
By then, Gov. Mary Fallin had weighed into the matter by issuing a stay of execution of her own - a one-week delay in Lockett's execution that resulted in both men being scheduled to die on the same day.
'Our goal is to make sure justice is served,' Fallin said Tuesday. 'The courts have ruled, and there is no doubt as to the guilt of the perpetrators of the crimes.'
Warner was served a final meal Tuesday of 20 boneless chicken wings, potato wedges, cole slaw, two fruit cocktail cups and a 20-ounce soda.
Lockett's request of steak, shrimp, a large baked potato and a Kentucky Bourbon pecan pie was denied because it exceeded the $15 limit, and he declined a separate offer from the warden for a dinner from Western Sizzlin', prison officials said.
Contributing: Associated Press
Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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