The state of Ohio announced Monday it will resume administering the death penalty after a nearly three-year hiatus following questions about the cocktail of drugs used by the state. Ohio put a halt to executions in the state after the botched execution of Dennis McGuire in Jan. 2014. McGuire, a 53-year-old convicted rapist and murderer, was put to death using an untested lethal-injection cocktail that caused a ghastly 26-minute execution scene where McGuire gasped and snorted for a prolonged period and, at one point, sat up and audibly said “I love you” in the direction of his family in the gallery.
“Ohio said it plans to resume executions in January with a new three-drug combination,” the Associated Press reports. “The state will use the drugs midazolam, which puts the inmate to sleep; rocuronium bromide, which paralyzes the inmate; and potassium chloride, which stops the heart, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction announced Monday.” The Supreme Court has previously upheld the use of the cocktail.
“The state has set 28 execution dates for January through 2020 amid an ongoing inability to obtain the lethal drugs needed to conduct executions,” according to the Columbus Dispatch: “Prison officials would not say whether the state has the needed drugs. State law prohibits the disclosure of where lethal-injection drugs are obtained.”
