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IT STARTED ABOUT 12 HOURS AGO
ACTUALLY.
THEY LED MR. DENNIS McGUIRE INTO
THE CHAMBER.
THEY LAID HIM DOWN.
BEFORE THEY ADMINISTERED THE
DRUGS, THEY ASKED IF HE HAD ANY
LAST WORDS.
HE APOLOGIZED TO THE FAMILY.
HE TOLD HIS SON AND DAUGHTER AND
HIS SON'S WIFE THAT HE LOVED
THEM ALL AND HE SAID, "I'M GOING
TO HEAVEN.
I'LL SEE YOU THERE WHEN YOU
COME."
THEY ADMINISTERED THE DRUGS AND
WITHIN MINUTES, HE SAID, I LOVE
YOU VERY LOUDLY.
ABOUT FIVE MINUTES WENT BY AND
HE DIDN'T MOVE.
THERE WAS NO SOUND, NO ONE SAID
ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR HIS FAMILY,
WHICH CRIED QUIETLY.
AND THEN SUDDENLY ABOUT FIVE
MINUTES LATER HE BEGAN TO
CONVULSE INTERMITTENTLY, CLEARLY
GASPING.
SORT OF LIKE A LOUD SNORE,
STRUGGLING TO BREATHE.
IT'S UNCLEAR HOW AWARE HE WAS OF
THE SITUATION.
THAT WENT ON FOR ABOUT TEN
MINUTES.
HIS FAMILY CRIED LOUDLY.
AT ONE POINT, ONE OF THEM SAID,
HOW CAN THIS TAKE SO LONG?
MEANWHILE, THE VICTIM'S FAMILY,
THE FAMILY OF THE PREGNANT WOMAN
HE MURDERED 25 YEARS AGO, THEY
SAID NOTHING.
THEY WATCHED SILENTLY.
THE WHOLE THING TOOK ABOUT 20
MINUTES BEFORE THE WARDEN
FINALLY DIRECTED THE PRISON
PHYSICIAN TO COME IN, TOOK ABOUT
THREE MINUTES SPENT TRYING TO
GATHER VITAL SIGNS.
AT WHICH TIME THE TIME OF DEATH
WAS DECLARED AT 10:53 A.M. THIS
MORNING.
>> JEFF, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF
THIS?
>> THE SUPREME COURT HAS SAID
THAT EXECUTIONS HAVE TO BE TWO
THINGS.
THEY HAVE TO BE EFFECTIVE.
THEY HAVE TO KILL.
AND THEY HAVE TO BE HUMANE.
IT TURNS OUT IT'S HARD TO DO
BOTH.
WE'VE MOVED IN THIS COUNTRY FROM
HANGING TO ELECTROCUTION TO THE
GAS CHAMBER TO LETHAL INJECTION.
BUT NONE WIND UP BEING EXACTLY
AS THEY WANT TO BE OR AS THE
EXECUTIONERS WANT THEM TO BE.
MAYBE IT'S JUST IMPOSSIBLE TO
HAVE THOSE TWO.
>> THIS IS MAYBE A DUMB
QUESTION, BUT WHY NOT HAVE A
FIRING SQUAD?
IF YOU'RE GOING TO KILL PEOPLE,
OR A GUILLOTINE, WHICH SEEMS
PRETTY --
>> UTAH, WHICH IS THE LAST STATE
TO HAVE A FIRING SQUAD, GARY
GILMORE, HE WAS EXECUTED BY
FIRING SQUAD.
AND PERHAPS THAT MAY COME BACK.
THERE IS AN ISSUE OF WHETHER
THAT IS CRUEL AND UNUSUAL.
WHETHER THAT WOULD BE IN
VIOLATION OF THE 8th AMENDMENT.
I DON'T KNOW.
>> WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
KILLING SOMEBODY BY PUTTING THEM
IN A GUILLOTINE AND CHOPPING
THEIR HEAD OFF OR A FIRING SQUAD
AND INJECTING THEM WITH
CHEMICALS?
>> I CAN'T BELIEVE WE'RE TALKING
ABOUT THIS.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A FIRING
SQUAD --
>> WHY GLOSS IT?
>> IT'S ALL BARBARIC.
I THINK IN A CIVILIZED SOCIETY,
THERE IS NO PLACE FOR IT.
I KNOW THE SUPREME COURT HAS
TRIED TO MAKE IT MORE PALATABLE,
BECAUSE IT IS STILL PART OF OUR
LAW, AND WE'RE SAYING CRUEL AND
UNUSUAL.
BUT EVERY *** IS CRUEL AND
UNUSUAL IN MY VIEW.
SO I DON'T THINK YOU CAN FIND A
WAY THAT'S HUMANE TO DO
SOMETHING LIKE THIS.
>> SUPPORT FOR THE DEATH PENALTY
IS DOWN DRAMATICALLY FROM WHERE
IT USED TO BE.
IN THE PEAK OF THE CRIME SPATE
IN THE LATE '80s, EARLY '90s, IT
WAS UP AROUND 75%.
IT'S NOW DOWN TO ABOUT 60%.
THAT'S STILL A SUBSTANTIAL
MAJORITY.
DEATH SENTENCES ARE DOWN,
EXECUTIONS ARE DOWN.
IT APPEARS TO BE SORT OF SOME
STATES HAVE ABANDONED IT.
BUT THE ANSWER OF HOW TO DO IT
REMAINS --
>> I THINK THERE'S PROBABLY A
FAIR NUMBER OF PEOPLE WATCH
THING WHO FIND IT HARD TO GET
WORKED UP OVER A MAN WHO KILLED
AND *** AND MURDERED A
PREGNANT WOMAN, HAVING A BAD
LAST FEW MINUTES OF HIS LIFE.
>> YEAH, MAYBE THAT'S TRUE.
STILL, WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THIS
MAN'S DESCRIPTION WHEN HE
PASSED, IT'S HARD FOR ANYBODY
WHO IS COMPASSIONATE TO FEEL
LIKE THIS IS A GOOD THING TO DO
IN A CIVILIZED SOCIETY.
>> WHAT'S THE REACTION IN
DAYTON, JOSH?
>> WELL, IT DEPENDS ON WHO YOU
ASK, OBVIOUSLY.
THE FAMILY HIRED AN ATTORNEY WHO
TOLD US TODAY THAT THEY PLAN TO
FILE AN INJUNCTION AGAINST THE
STATE TO CEASE THIS KIND OF
PRACTICE IN THE FUTURE, CLAIMING
THE 8th AMENDMENT, CRUEL AND
UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT.
THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO SAY
SOMETHING WENT HORRIBLY WRONG.
BUT PEOPLE IN THE UP TO WHERE
SHE LIVED, I SPOKE TO THEM DAYS
AGO, EVEN WHEN THIS CONCERN WAS