Ohio has concluded that Dennis McGuire did not suffer any pain during his execution last January, the state's Department of Rehabilitation & Correction said today.
McGuire was executed using a new cocktail of drugs. The state ran out of pentobarbital, the traditional drug used in executions, so it used combination of midazolam and hydromorphone.
As we reported at the time, it took McGuire, a convicted killer and rapist, 24 minutes to die. Four minutes after he was injected, "McGuire started struggling and gasping loudly for air, making snorting and choking sounds which lasted for at least 10 minutes."
JoEllen Smith, a spokesperson for the Ohio corrections department, said they remained confident the execution was conducted "in a humane, constitutional way and that the inmate was completely unconscious and felt no pain."
Here's what the report says about the gasping that occurred during the execution:
"The bodily movements that were observed were consistent with the effects of the drugs, his obesity and other body characteristics, and involuntary muscle contractions associated with the ending of respiratory function. There is no evidence that McGuire experienced any pain, distress or anxiety."
As we've reported, the drugs used for the death penalty have been under the microscope lately. In different states — from Texas to Oklahoma — death-row inmates have asked judges to delay their executions based on questions about the drugs. Some courts — including the U.S. Supreme Court — have refused to step in and executions have proceeded.
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