Posted on 01/19/2005 6:50:00 PM PST by SmithL
Donald Beardslee's execution at San Quentin Prison Wednesday morning was a struggle for dignity.
The five guards who labored 16 minutes to insert the lethal injection needles into his arms struggled for composure, their lips tightening as they undoubtedly realized this was taking twice as long as usual.
The 30 witnesses gathered in the observation room to watch through the thick glass of the apple-green death chamber struggled to keep their cool as the minutes dragged on, shifting uncomfortably on their feet, crossing and uncrossing their arms. Nervous coughs were the only sounds breaking the tension.
And there, being put to death before all of us, the 61-year-old Beardslee seemed to struggle -- ever so slightly.
Once, as the triple-murderer was being led into the death chamber at 11:58 p.m. Tuesday by five prison guards, a look of concern or possibly worry flickered across his face. It was quickly replaced by a flatness of expression -- and when he was strapped by his ankles, chest and arms to the hospital-style gurney, he closed his eyes and lay so still he seemed asleep.
He never moved while the prison guards hunted for the right openings in his flesh from midnight to 12:16 a.m. Wednesday. But after the intravenous lines were finally taped to each arm and he was left alone to await the poisons that would end his life, he let his emotions leak one more time.
Beardslee's chest heaved two quick sighs at 12:18 a.m. -- the same minute unseen hands from behind the death chamber walls began to send chemicals through the plastic tubes toward his body -- as if to say, "OK, let's get on with it."
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
The real "cruel and unusual" punishment was keeping this guy on death row for more than twenty years. 15 extra minutes bothers me not one bit.
He should have been executed within a year of the initial sentence.
That argument is paper-thin. However, the body could be removed by sliding it under the door.
Exactly - this article makes me sick - not because of the execution (it was LONG overdue - and a rarity in California). It makes me sick because of the incredible bias shown in it. The author is OBVIOUSLY so ANTI-DEATH PENALTY. I wonder if the writer would feel the same if it were his onw family members murdered by this monster.
How DARE this writer try to give dignity to this murderer who deserves nothing but the pits of hell for what he did. I never heard a word about him repenting of his actions or any other sign of remorse -
We can do it a lot faster in Texas because we have a lot more experience.
I second that suggestion.
Save some tears for his victims.
I was thinking the guard might give up and just cap the perp.
Amundsen, a Marine gunnery sergeant who tells of killing enemy soldiers in the Vietnam War, was stiff as a board while he watched his sister's killer breathe his last. He kept his eyes focused, laserlike, on the dying man -- and only once did he turn his head, for a quick nod to the media witnesses as they walked out the door.
"I saw what I wanted to see. I'm glad," he told me shortly after the execution. "He was awful. He deserved to die."
And sooner than he did too.
This reporter certainly sounds like a guy of a "certain persuasion."
It's safer for the executioners to administer the lethal injections remotely, instead of right next to the (possibly desperate) convicted murderer.
Indeed...
Huh?
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