mobanmarketWashington: A convicted murderer with a rare medical condition was executed Tuesday in Missouri despite his assertion that lethal injection would cause him terrible suffering.
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Russell Bucklew – who was found guilty of killing his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend in 1996, then abducting and raping her – was pronounced dead at 6:23 pm (2323 GMT).
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Bucklew, 51, suffered from cavernous hemangioma, a blood vessel condition that hindered his breathing. For the past year, he had been using a tracheotomy tube.
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His lawyers had said his execution could be horrific if done by lethal injection.
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“His face is swollen by the bulging, blood-filled tumors in his face, head and throat,” the lawyers wrote in a petition asking Missouri’s governor to commute the sentence and have Bucklew serve a life term instead.
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“These unstable tumors are highly likely to hemorrhage during the stress of the execution, causing Russell to cough and choke on his own blood.”
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Governor Mike Parson, a Republican who supports the death penalty, turned down the request Tuesday morning.
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Bucklew was the 17th inmate put to death in the US this year.
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“We mourn the unnecessary, unlawful execution of Russell Bucklew tonight,” Cassandra Stubbs, the director of the Capital Punishment Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.
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Authorities in Missouri had twice set dates for his execution, in 2014 and 2018.
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Both times, the US Supreme Court ordered last minute stays.
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Some former prison wardens came out in favor of Bucklew’s request, saying they wanted to spare their colleagues the risk of a messy, botched execution.
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“Participating in executions places a tremendous weight on the shoulders of the execution team,” they said in a court brief.
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“When as here, an execution is unlikely to go smoothly, and is likely to result in unnecessary pain and suffering, the burden of participation becomes unbearable.”
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In April, the US Supreme Court rejected arguments over how cruel it would be to execute Bucklew by lethal injection.
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“The Eighth Amendment does not guarantee a prisoner a painless death,” the majority judges said in a 5-4 ruling.
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The amendment outlaws “cruel and unusual punishments.”
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The court’s four liberal judges disagreed.
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“Executing Bucklew by lethal injection risks subjecting him to constitutionally impermissible suffering,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote on behalf of the liberals.
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