Free Republic

Oklahoma executed a death row inmate Thursday for killing a baby in 1997 in the state’s first lethal injection since a botched one last spring. Prison officials declared Charles Frederick Warner dead at 7:28 p.m. CST Thursday. The execution lasted 18 minutes. “Before I give my final statement, I’ll tell you they poked me five times. It hurt. It feels like acid,” Warner said before the execution began. He added, “I’m not a monster. I didn’t do everything they said I did.” […] It was the second time Oklahoma used the sedative midazolam as part of a three-drug method, which...

*** Oklahoma was using a new lethal injection drug for the first time, and the secrecy surrounding the drugs had caused a protracted argument that extended to the state’s courts and lawmakers. Branstetter had been there in January when Michael Wilson was killed with a three-drug mix that had been obtained from a compounding pharmacy. Wilson’s final words, spoken after the injections: “I feel my whole body burning.” So she wanted to go to see what was different this time. At the beginning, the only thing that was different was that the execution was late. At 6:23 p.m., 23 minutes...