Dennis McGuire
Dennis McGuire, 53, was executed by lethal injection at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, on January 16, 2014, using a two-drug combination of midazolam and hydromorphone that had not been tried before in the United States. Witnesses, including his adult children, said he gasped, snorted and struggled to breathe for many minutes, and the death took about 25 to 26 minutes. His family said the process amounted to torture and sued, arguing the drugs caused needless pain; his lawyers had warned before the execution that the method risked severe suffering, and a federal judge sided with the state while acknowledging the method was an experiment. Ohio prison officials said he was calm, that he spent the night on the phone and writing letters, and that a state review found no evidence he experienced pain, distress or anxiety; the family's lawsuit was later dropped after the state abandoned the method.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. His family says the 25-minute execution with an untested drug combination amounted to torture and has sued, while the state says the protocol was properly followed.
Reported by: Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (the agency that held him); his family, including daughter Amber McGuire and attorney Jon Paul Rion (family or their lawyers); witnesses to the execution, including Lawrence Hummer (witnesses); news reporting on the execution.
Lawsuit: His adult children sued the state, prison officials, the execution team and drug maker Hospira over the execution method, and the suit was later dropped after Ohio abandoned the drug combination; no payment was reported.
Sources (25)
- Ohio Killer Executed With New Lethal Injection Method
- Ohio executes inmate using untried, untested lethal injection method
- New lethal injection drugs take 15 minutes to kill Ohio inmate
- Dennis McGuire Executed: Ohio killer took 15 minutes to die by new lethal injection method, report says
- Condemned U.S. killer gasps, dies slowly after new drug combo used to execute him
- Ohio Executes Inmate With New Drug Mix
- Ohio man's 25-minute execution sparks controversy
- Family of Ohio Man Executed with Untested Drug Mix Plans to Sue
- 'Agonizing' execution method takes 20 minutes to kill man | CBC News
- Family of man executed in Ohio using untested procedure plans to file lawsuit
- After a Prolonged Execution in Ohio, Questions Over ‘Cruel and Unusual’ (Published 2014)
- Ohio man's execution takes 25 minutes, sparking controversy
- Family of Executed Man Plans to Sue State - ABC News
- Doctor angry Ohio executed inmate despite 'horror' warning
- I witnessed Ohio's execution of Dennis McGuire. What I saw was inhumane | Lawrence Hummer
- Botched Ohio Execution Raises Concerns About Lethal Injection Drugs
- Family of Ohio inmate sues over drawn-out execution
- Ohio prison guards: Condemned inmate was urged to fake suffocation
- Ohio officials insist Dennis McGuire execution 'worked very well'
- Killer's execution takes two hours, but Arizona governor says 'he did not suffer'
- What do recent botched executions mean for death penalty?
- Inmate's family sues Ohio lethal injection expert witness
- Family of Ohio man who snorted and gasped during execution drops lawsuit
- Executioner says he was puzzled by Ohio inmate’s 26-minute death
- Family of executed Ohio man considers filing lawsuit