Oklahoma executes John David Duty with drug used to euthanize animals

John David Duty

WASHINGTON — A US state executed a convicted murderer with an animal drug for the first time because of an anesthetic shortage, in a move critics panned as a test on a human guinea pig.

Oklahoma executed John Duty, 58 -- who in 2001 strangled his 22-year-old cellmate, Curtis Wise, while serving three life sentences -- with pentobarbital, normally used by veterinarians to put animals to sleep.

"The procedure started at 6:12 pm our time (0012 GMT). John Duty was pronounced dead at 6:18pm," Jerry Massie, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, told AFP.

"His last words were: 'To the family of Curtis Wise: I'd like to make my apology. I hope one day you'll be able to forgive me, not for my sake but for your own... Thank you, Lord Jesus. I'm ready to go home,'" Massie said.

The Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington-based group that monitors capital punishment, confirmed that Duty was the first death row inmate to be executed using the drug.

For months now, several US states have struggled to find supplies of sodium thiopental -- the first and most crucial of three drugs used in lethal injections -- after its sole US manufacturer Hospira ran out of stock.

The company will resume production of the drug early next year, forcing some states to suspend executions and others to import the drug from other states or from overseas with government approval.

Oklahoma's decision to use the animal drug was approved by a US court last month in a ruling that may lead other states to adopt the procedure.

The appeals court found that the amount of pentobarbital to be used was "sufficient to induce unconsciousness in an inmate and indeed would likely be lethal in most, if not all, instances."

Capital punishment specialists meanwhile warned that the drug had not been properly vetted and might not keep inmates unconscious during the more painful subsequent injections that kill them.

And Duty's lawyers had expressed fears in court documents that their client would be used as a "guinea pig" to test the new method of execution.

In its response, Oklahoma stressed that, since pentobarbital has been widely used on animals and as a human anesthetic, its use on inmates is "hardly experimental."

Source: AFP, December 16, 2010

Drug used in Okla. execution could gain wider use

MCALESTER, Okla. (AP) — Death penalty experts say a sedative Oklahoma used to execute an inmate that is commonly used to euthanize animals could become more popular.

That's because of a nationwide shortage of a key ingredient in several states' lethal injection formulas.

John David Duty is believed to be the first person in the United States whose execution included the use of pentobarbital. The 58-year-old was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

Oklahoma and several other states traditionally have used the barbiturate sodium thiopental to put an inmate to sleep. They then use two other drugs to paralyze the muscles and stop the heart.

But the only U.S. maker of sodium thiopental, Hospira Inc., says new batches won't be available until "the first quarter" of next year.

Source AP, December 17, 2010

Oklahoma executes man using new drug combination

Oklahoma State Penitentiary

Oklahoma man executed with drug mix that includes sedative commonly used to euthanize animals

Oklahoma officials executed a convicted murderer Thursday [Dec. 16, 2010] using a drug combination that includes a sedative commonly used to euthanize animals, after a nationwide shortage of a key ingredient forced the state to tinker with the usual formula.

John David Duty was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

The 58-year-old, who was sentenced to die for strangling his cellmate nearly a decade ago, is believed to be the first person in the United States whose execution included the use of pentobarbital.

Duty and 2 other death-row inmates had challenged the state's decision to use pentobarbital, arguing it could be inhumane because a person could be paralyzed but still aware when a painful 3rd drug is administered to stop the heart. On Tuesday, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling against the other 2 inmates. Duty did not take part in the appeal.

Several states have been scrambling since Hospira Inc. -- the only U.S. manufacturer of the barbiturate normally used in executions -- said new batches of sodium thiopental could be available "in the first quarter" of next year.

Oklahoma obtained a dose of sodium thiopental from Arkansas for its last execution in October, but couldn't secure any more, said Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokesman Jerry Massie.

Executions have been delayed in California, Arkansas, Tennessee and Maryland as a result of protocol changes, including the use of new drugs, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. In Ohio and Washington, laws were passed to allow for the use of sodium thiopental alone, he said.

But Oklahoma's law calls for the use of a fast-acting barbiturate to be administered 1st, which gave the state the flexibility to use pentobarbital, Massie said.

"I think Oklahoma is the only state where this issue has come to a head over a new drug," Dieter said. "The other states that haven't been able to do it, it's because the state courts wanted more time to review the overall protocol changes."

Experts testified at a November federal court hearing that no other U.S. state uses pentobarbital during executions. Massie and Dieter both said before Thursday's execution that they believed Duty would be the 1st U.S. inmate put to death using the drug.

"I have not seen that (pentobarbital) has been used before in this context,'" Dieter said. But, he noted, "Some states don't say exactly what drugs are used and have kept that out of the public eye.'"

Duty becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Oklahoma and the 94th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1990. Only Texas (464) and Virginia (108) have executed more inmates than Virginia since the death penalty was re-legalized in the US on July 2, 1976.

Duty becomes the 46th inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1234th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.

Sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin, December 17, 2010

Comments

Former Florida officer who raped, murdered 11-year-old set to be executed

An execution date has been set for a former Mascotte police officer who, in May 1987, assaulted and murdered an 11-year-old girl. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for James Aren Duckett on Friday. He’s scheduled to be executed on March 31. It’ll be the state’s 5th execution this year, following a record 19 executions in 2025. Duckett was convicted in the murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee about a year after her death. According to officials, Duckett took the 11-year-old to a lake, where he sexually battered, strangled and drowned her.

Florida executes Billy Kearse

Florida executes man who killed Fort Pierce police officer during 1991 traffic stop Moments before receiving a lethal injection, Billy Kearse asked for forgiveness from the family of Danny Parrish, whose widow said she found peace after a "long, long 35 years.” A man convicted of fatally shooting a police officer with his own service weapon during a traffic stop was executed Tuesday evening, becoming the third person put to death by Florida this year after a record 19 executions in 2025.

Florida Cop-killer Billy Kearse set to be executed today

A man who confessed to fatally shooting Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish with his own service weapon during a 1991 traffic stop is scheduled to be executed starting at 6 p.m. March 3, barring a last-minute stay. Billy L. Kearse, 53, will be the third person put to death by the state this year, just one week after the execution of Melvin Trotter, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for strangling and stabbing Virgie Langford in Palmetto in 1986. The Florida Supreme Court on Feb. 12 denied a motion for a stay of execution and a motion for an extension due to the fading health and death of the father of Kearse's attorney. Attorneys for Kearse have filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution, citing violations of the Sixth, Eighth and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution.

Texas Plans Second Execution of the Year

Cedric Ricks is set to be killed on March 11 Cedric Ricks spoke in his own defense at his 2013 murder trial, something most defendants accused of a terrible crime do not do. Ricks confessed that he had killed his girlfriend, Roxann Sanchez, and her 8-year-old son. He admitted he was aggressive and had trouble controlling his anger, stating that he was “sorry about everything.” The Tarrant County jury was unmoved. Ricks has spent the last 13 years on death row and is scheduled to be executed on March 11.

Florida | Governor DeSantis signs death warrant in 2008 murder case

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a death warrant for Michael L. King, setting an execution date of March 17, 2026, at 6 p.m. King was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2008 kidnapping, sexual battery and murder of Denise Amber Lee, a 21-year-old North Port mother. On January 17, 2008, Michael Lee King abducted 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee from her North Port home by forcing her into his green Chevrolet Camaro. He drove her around while she was bound, including to his cousin's house to borrow tools like a shovel. King took her to his home, where he sexually battered her, then placed her in the backseat of his car. Later that evening, he drove to a remote area, shot her in the face, and buried her nude body in a shallow grave. Her remains were discovered two days later. During the crime, multiple 9-1-1 calls were made, but communication breakdowns between emergency dispatch centers delayed the response. The case drew national attention and prompted w...

Chinese courts conclude trials of 2 criminal gangs from northern Myanmar, 16 sentenced to death

Chinese courts have concluded the trials of 2 major criminal groups based in northern Myanmar involved in telecom and online fraud, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said Thursday. At a press conference held by the SPC, it was revealed that by the end of 2025, courts across the country had concluded first-instance trials of over 27,000 cases related to telecom fraud operations in northern Myanmar, with more than 41,000 returned suspects sentenced. Notably, among the trials of the so-called "4 major families" criminal gangs -- which had drawn widespread domestic and international attention -- those of the Ming and Bai groups have completed all judicial proceedings.

Florida executes Melvin Trotter

The execution of Melvin Trotter for the murder of 70-year-old Virgie Langford in 1986 comes as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor questions Florida's 'deeply troubling' lethal injection record. Florida has executed its second inmate of the year even as a Supreme Court justice questioned the state's “deeply troubling" record on lethal injections and how it "shrouds its executions in secrecy." Melvin Trotter, 65, was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, Feb. 24, for the 1986 murder of 70-year-old Virgie Langford, a mother of 4 who was on the verge of retirement when she was stabbed to death in the corner grocery store that she owned for five decades. Trotter was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. ET.

‘Come on with it’: Arkansas inmate asks to hasten execution

A Faulkner County judge has scheduled an August hearing to determine whether a death row inmate can bypass his attorney’s advice, drop his remaining appeals, and hasten his execution. Scotty Ray Gardner, 65, is facing the death penalty for the 2016 killing of his girlfriend, Susan Heather Stubbs, in Conway. In letters sent to Circuit Judge Chuck Clawson and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Gardner said he wants to end his legal battles, writing that he is tired of prison life and skeptical he will receive a fair hearing. “It’s simple,” Gardner wrote in a September letter. “Come on with it.”

Oklahoma Ends Indefinite Death Row Solitary Confinement

Every year, thousands of prisoners in the U.S. are placed in solitary confinement, where they endure isolation, abuse, and mental suffering . This practice might soon become rarer for some inmates in Oklahoma, thanks to the efforts of activists in the state. Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oklahoma announced that the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester had ended the practice of indefinite solitary confinement for "the vast majority" of death row prisoners.

Man convicted in 1986 murder set to become Florida's second execution of 2026

STARKE, Fla. (DPN) — A man convicted of stabbing and strangling a grocery store owner during a robbery nearly 40 years ago is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday evening, becoming the second person executed in Florida this year. Melvin Trotter, 65, is set to receive a three-drug lethal injection beginning at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Trotter was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1986 killing of Virgie Langford, 70, who owned Langford’s Grocery Store in Palmetto, in southwest Florida's Manatee County.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog