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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An attorney for a condemned Ohio inmate whose slow, gasping execution with a new drug combination renewed questions about the death penalty was temporarily suspended last week while officials investigated whether he had coached the condemned man to fake symptoms of suffocation. The Office of the Public Defender said Robert Lowe, one of the attorneys representing inmate Dennis McGuire, was back at work Monday after an internal review failed to substantiate the allegation. State prison records released Monday say McGuire told guards that Lowe counseled him to make a show of his death that would, perhaps,...

Family alleges Ohio execution unconstitutional January 25, 2014 AP COLUMBUS, Ohio – The prolonged execution of an Ohio inmate during which he repeatedly gasped and snorted amounted to cruel and unusual punishment which should not be allowed to happen again, the inmate's family said in a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed late Friday, also alleges the drug maker that produced the medications illegally allowed them to be used for an execution and should be prohibited from making them available for capital punishment. McGuire "repeated cycles of snorting, gurgling and arching his back, appearing to writhe in pain," the lawsuit said....

Mexican who gunned down Houston cop WILL be executed tonight despite last-minute pleas from Mexico government A Mexican held on death-row in a Texan prison for murdering a policeman will be executed tonight despite last-ditch appeals from lawyers for clemency. Edgar Arias Tamayo, 46, was set for lethal injection this evening for shooting of Guy Gaddis, 24, in January 1994. The case has been a focus of protests in his home town and diplomatic pressure, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry calling for a delay to Tamayo's execution. Tamayo's lawyers had lodged an appeal arguing that he was ineligible...

The US state of Texas plans to execute a Mexican national convicted of murder, over the objections of the US and Mexican governments. Mexico says Wednesday's execution of Edgar Tamayo, 46, will violate international law. The country says he was not told of his right to seek legal assistance from the Mexican consulate when he was arrested.

HOUSTON — Secretary of State John F. Kerry and a former Texas governor are part of an international coalition trying to halt Texas' execution of a Mexican citizen this week. Edgar Tamayo Arias, 46, is to be put to death Wednesday for fatally shooting Houston Police Officer Guy Gaddis in 1994. Gaddis, 24, had been flagged down near a nightclub by a man who accused Tamayo of robbing him. The officer arrested Tamayo, handcuffed him and put him in the back seat of his patrol car. He was driving away when Tamayo drew a concealed pistol and shot Gaddis three...

**SNIP** Firing squads have all but disappeared from the U.S. While Oklahoma law provides for them if lethal injection is ever ruled unconstitutional, only Utah actually continues to use them, and then only for inmates convicted before 2004 as it seeks to phase them out. But the shortage of pentobarbitol has some lawmakers reconsidering. State Sen. Bruce Burns filed a similar bill (.pdf) Monday in Wyoming, saying the state would have to do something soon before it runs out of approved drugs for lethal injections.

A condemned man appeared to gasp several times and took an unusually long time to die - more than 20 minutes - in an execution carried out Thursday with a combination of drugs never before tried in the U.S. Dennis McGuire's attorney Allen Bohnert called the convicted killer's death "a failed, agonizing experiment" and added: "The people of the state of Ohio should be appalled at what was done here today in their names."

Ohio inmate Dennis McGuire appeared to gasp and convulse for roughly 10 minutes before he finally died Thursday during his execution by lethal injection using a new combination of drugs, reporters who witnessed it said. He was convicted in 1994 of the rape and murder of 22-year-old Joy Stewart, who was seven months pregnant. Her relatives were at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville to witness his death, according to tweets from television reporter Sheila Gray. McGuire's "children and daughter-in-law were crying and visibly upset," Gray tweeted. Killer executed in Ohio A Dayton Daily News reporter who also watched the...

Murderer first to be executed with controversial 'air hunger' drug after last meal of beef, ice cream and chicken (rest of title) 'One can scarcely conceive of a sequence of crimes more shocking to the conscience or to moral sensibilities than the senseless kidnapping and rape of a young, pregnant woman followed by her murder,

It's sweetness, light and fervent desires for peace and love all the way down. Right.According to a report from The Week First Post, Initial reports suggested Jang Song-thaek, the No.2 man in North Korea, had been shot by a firing squad after being found guilty of treason. But an account in Wen Wei Po – China's official mouthpiece – suggests the reality was even more disturbing.According to the report, Jang was stripped naked and thrown into a cage, along with his five closest aides, the Straits Times reports. They were joined by 120 hounds who had been "starved for three days", the paper...

BEIJING -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful uncle was stripped naked, thrown into a cage, and eaten alive by a pack of ravenous dogs, according to a newspaper with close ties to China's ruling Communist Party. Hong Kong-based pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po reported that Jang and his five closest aides were set upon by 120 hunting hounds which had been starved for five days.

Details emerging from North Korea about Kim Jong-un's surprising public purging of his uncle from a top position indicate that it was a family affair with his aunt and brother, armed with a pistol, taking part in the arrests of ranking officials. ... "What you have to understand is that the North Korean dynasty is run by an absolute blood-based hereditary mindset," pointed out Lee Yun-keol, the president of North Korea Strategic Information Service Center. The purge drama was designed by Kim Kyong-hee, Jang's wife, and Kim Jong-un, Lee said. ... The South Korean media have also been reporting that...

North Korea announced Thursday it had executed the uncle of leader Kim Jong Un, declaring him a traitor who tried to overthrow the state. The announcement came only days after Pyongyang announced through state media that Jang Song Thaek -- long considered the country's No. 2 power -- had been removed from all his posts because of allegations of corruption, drug use, gambling, womanizing and leading a "dissolute and depraved life." State news agency KCNA said a tribunal examined Jang's crimes, including "attempting to overthrow the state by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to...

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Ohio Governor John Kasich on Wednesday stayed the execution of convicted killer Ronald Phillips to assess whether Phillips's non-vital organs or tissues can be donated to his mother or possibly others. Phillips, 40, was scheduled to be executed Thursday for the 1993 murder of 3-year-old Sheila Marie Evans. But Kasich granted a stay until July 2 to allow medical experts to assess whether Phillips's non-vital organs or tissues can be donated to his mother or others.

Man convicted of killing two women, attempting to kill a third, executed by lethal injectionA convicted killer who had been on death row for 23 years was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison on Tuesday. Marshall Lee Gore, 49, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m., authorities said. Gore, a former Miami-Dade escort service owner, was convicted of killing two women in the 1980s and executed for the March 1988 murder of of one of those women, exotic dancer Robyn Novick. The 30-year-old nude body was found dumped in rural Miami-Dade County. Gore was also convicted of killing another...

Kim Jong Un orders 9 executed to protect wife from scandal September 21, 2013 By YOSHIHIRO MAKINO/ Correspondent North Korea executed nine music group performers in an apparent attempt to squelch rumors leaking that the wife of leader Kim Jong Un might once have led a provocative lifestyle. The information comes from a high-ranking North Korean government official who recently defected. According to sources, both the Japanese and South Korean governments have confirmed the veracity of the report. Kim's wife, Ri Sol Ju, was a singer with the Unhasu Orchestra before she married him in June 2012. The scandal involves...

A former South Texas street gang member started snoring as he was lethally injected in a Texas prison. Robert Gene Garza, 30, smiled and blew a kiss to friends and relatives as they entered the death chamber. In a brief final statement, he thanked them for coming and told them he loved them. 'I know it's hard for you. It's not easy. This is a release. Y'all finally get to move on with your lives,' he said. Garza took several deep breaths as a lethal dose of pentobarbital began flowing into his arms, then began snoring. All movement stopped within...

<p>The ex-girlfriend of North Korean leader Kim-Jong-un was one of a dozen people reportedly executed by a firing squad last week.</p> <p>The South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reports that singer Hyon Song-wol and 11 others had been arrested on August 17 for violating North Korea's laws against pornography and was executed three days later.</p>

A new video has surfaced on YouTube portraying what is said to be Sunni Muslims executing 3 Syrian truck drivers. The Al Qaeda linked terrorists are waving over the drivers and questioning them about their religious affiliations to ascertain whether they be Muslim or not. Upon finding them to be non-Muslim, the men are lined up and shot execution style. Their bodies then appearing to be posthumously shot multiple times. NOTE: This video contains extremely graphic material. - See more at: http://freepatriot.org/2013/08/27/shocking-graphic-video-surfaces-alleging-execution-truck-drivers-non-muslim-ties/#sthash.EkV3OB1i.dpuf

Hamas plans to publicly execute two prisoners in Gaza this week as a "lesson" to others, according to Amnesty International. The organization has described the move as "deeply disturbing," reported the British Guardian. The human rights organization said a 23-year-old man had been sentenced to death for "collaboration with an enemy entity," He told his lawyer he had been beaten during interrogation, Amnesty said. An appeal at a military court is scheduled for Wednesday but he will be at risk of imminent execution if it is unsuccessful, reported the Guardian. The second man, 27, confessed to the rape and murder...