Death by Heart Attack Instead of Lethal Injection

Another execution in the United States where the criminal had to suffer a lingering, painful death. The lethal injection ruptured a vein and his death throes lasted 43 minutes.

According to media reports, a murderer underwent a botched execution that resulted in extended death throes and his demise due to a heart attack. Thirty-eight year old Clayton Lockett, also charged with other crimes, was scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening in Oklahoma City by lethal injection. However, television affiliate KFOR-TV reported the three-drug cocktail injected into his body caused a vein to burst. He remained conscious writhing in agony and gasping for breath on the gurney, finally dying some 43 minutes later due to a heart attack.

A second execution planned for later that same evening was canceled due to the incident. Oklahoma’s governor, Mary Fallin, has ordered an investigation into the botched execution and temporarily suspended all executions in the state for two weeks. The state attorney’s office is also investigating the incident. Lockett’s attorneys had requested more detailed information concerning the drugs to be used in his execution, but the state supreme court had rejected the request, citing the need to protect the manufacturers of the drugs, which include preparations that stop breathing and render the subject unconscious.