14 DAY TRIAL // The first person to be executed in Ohio this year was also the first subject to test a new death penalty drug. Sadly, the substance wasn't as efficient as some believed and lead to the prisoner's agonizing passing.
Witnesses from the execution reported seeing Dennis McGuire “struggle, repeatedly gasping loudly for air and making snorting and choking sounds” before passing away. The 24-minute-long execution is considered to be a “failed, agonizing experiment,” explains The Columbus Dispatch.
McGuire was sentenced to death after raping, choking and slashing the throat of a 22-year-old pregnant woman from West Alexandria. His appalling murder got him the ultimate penalty and he was injected with the lethal substance yesterday morning. His attorneys argued that the new and untested injection may cause him a painful death because of the combination of drugs.
After the common death penalty drug, pentobarbital, was no longer available, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction decided to go on with a new combination of substances. The experimental fatal drug was made from a sedative called midazolam and a morphine derivate called hydromorphone.
The worst part of the execution process was the fact that the man's agony lasted for several minutes before finally being declared dead. The man's two adult children were watching the execution, joining arms and clinching hands throughout the entire process.
The family of McGuire's victim stated that the man had it coming as he made the woman suffer incredible pain and misery and that “ultimately we must all face judgment.” They said that even if the execution was agonizing, he was actually treated more humanely than he treated his victim.
There was a lot of controversy revolving around the new substance used for the lethal injections, as it was the first time the combination of drugs was tested. Sadly, Ohio's experiment was not as they expected and Dennis McGuire was something like a guinea pig for the new injection, suspected to bring a painful death upon the subject.