Condemned man worried about execution

Columbia Missourian ^ | 5/16/14

[Pollster1]

The crime:

____________________________________________________________

Stephanie Ray dumped her live-in boyfriend, Russell Bucklew, on Valentine’s Day. Weeks later, Bucklew found Ray in bed with the (soon to be) victim, Michael Sanders, put a knife to Sanders’s throat and threatened to kill him, then threatened Ray with a knife, cut her jaw, and punched her in the face (reported to the police). The next day, Bucklew threatened by phone to kill Ray, Sanders, and her children if he saw her with Sanders again. Ray moved in with Sanders, fearing to return to her own home.

Bucklew tracked Ray down, Bucklew and Sanders got into a gunfight in Sanders’ trailer, and Sanders eventually bled to death from two bullet wounds, one in the chest. Bucklew aimed the gun at Sanders’s head but when he saw Sander’s six-year-old son, Bucklew fired at the boy instead - and missed.

Bucklew handcuffed Ray and dragged her to the car, drove away, and raped her. Bucklew was arrested after a gunfight in which both a trooper and Bucklew were wounded.

____________________________________________________________

I’m not worried about whether this evil man will feel pain during his execution. My only concern is that this man must be executed to protect ordinary, decent people, including other criminals in prison. It’s not appropriate to intentionally inflict pain during the execution, but neither is there a moral requirement that the execution be painless.