FLORENCE, Ariz. (AP) — An Associated Press reporter who witnessed an Arizona murderer’s execution watched him gasp and snort for more than an hour and a half before he finally took his last breath.
The gasping and snorting began shortly after a sedative and a pain killer were injected into Joseph Rudolph Wood’s veins Wednesday afternoon. He gasped more than 600 times over the next hour and 40 minutes.
An administrator checked on Wood a half dozen times. His breathing slowed down as a deacon said a prayer while holding a rosary. The 55-year-old stopped breathing at 3:37 p.m. and was pronounced dead 12 minutes later.
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The AP reporter was one of five media members who watched the execution unfold.
Wood’s lawyers call it a botched execution that should bring new scrutiny to the death penalty in the US.