Joseph Rudolph Wood III was an American convicted murderer executed on July 23, 2014, at Florence State Prison in Arizona, with a two-hour

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital punis ...

procedure that was described as "botched". Wood gasped and snorted for an hour and fifty-seven minutes after the drugs were injected, and the entire procedure took almost two hours; experts said the execution should have taken about ten minutes.

Background

Wood had been convicted of murder and assault after shooting dead his estranged girlfriend Debra Dietz and her father, Eugene Dietz, on August 7, 1989. Wood was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault against a police officer. He was sentenced to death for each murder and received 15-year prison sentences, set to run concurrently, for the aggravated assault convictions. Wood was scheduled to be executed with a combination of

midazolam Midazolam, sold under the brand name Versed among others, is a benzodiazepine medication used for anesthesia and procedural sedation, and to treat severe agitation. It works by inducing sleepiness, decreasing anxiety, and causing a loss of a ...

and

hydromorphone Hydromorphone, also known as dihydromorphinone, and sold under the brand name Dilaudid among others, is an opioid used to treat moderate to severe pain. Typically, long-term use is only recommended for pain due to cancer. It may be used by mo ...

, which had been used only once previously for the January 2014 execution of Dennis McGuire in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. McGuire's execution had also been described as "botched" due to McGuire appearing to snort, gasp, and convulse during a procedure that lasted 25 minutes. From 1890 to 2010, the rate of botched

s in the United States was 7.1%, higher than any other form of execution, with firing squads at 0%, the

electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

at 1.9%,

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

at 3.1%, and the

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History ...

at 5.4%.

Execution

The execution began at 1:52 p.m. MST and ended at 3:49 p.m. when Wood was pronounced dead. It involved injecting Wood with the drug cocktail of

Midazolam Midazolam, sold under the brand name Versed among others, is a benzodiazepine medication used for anesthesia and procedural sedation, and to treat severe agitation. It works by inducing sleepiness, decreasing anxiety, and causing a loss of a ...

, a sedative, and

, a semi-synthetic opioid, each at a dose such that a single application of both drugs was supposed to be sufficient to kill him. Wood had to be dosed 15 times, during which he gasped and snorted for well over one hour, a media witness comparing Wood's breathing to a "fish gulping for air". One Associated Press reporter said Wood gasped more than 600 times. Experts stated that the execution should have taken about ten minutes. Wood's lawyers filed an emergency appeal with the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

an hour into the procedure, requesting that the prolonged execution be halted. In the motion, they wrote: "He has been gasping and snorting for more than an hour. ... He is still alive." The appeal was denied by Justice

Anthony Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Preside ...

, with word coming half an hour after Wood's death. After the execution, Debra Dietz's sister told the Associated Press: "What I saw today with him being executed, it is nothing compared to what happened on August 7, 1989," Jeanne Brown said, referring to Wood's murder of her father and sister on that date. "What's excruciating is seeing your father lying there in a pool of blood, seeing your sister lying in a pool of blood."

Aftermath

Governor

Jan Brewer Janice Kay Brewer (''née'' Drinkwine, formerly Warren; born September 26, 1944) is an American politician and author who was the 22nd governor of Arizona from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Brewer is the fourth woman (and was ...

ordered a review of the state's execution procedures, citing concern with the length of time it took Wood to die. Regarding the execution, Brewer said: "One thing is certain, however, inmate Wood died in a lawful manner and by eyewitness and medical accounts he did not suffer. This is in stark comparison to the gruesome, vicious suffering that he inflicted on his two victims – and the lifetime of suffering he has caused their family." Charles Ryan, director of Arizona's department of corrections, said in a statement: "Once the inmate was sedated, other than sonorous respiration, or snoring, he did not grimace or make any further movement. Throughout this execution, I conferred and collaborated with our IV team members and was assured unequivocally that the inmate was comatose and never in pain or distress." Stephanie Grisham, then a spokeswoman for the Arizona attorney general's office, who was also a witness, said: "There was no gasping of air. There was snoring. He just aythere. It was quite peaceful." Dale Baich, Wood's public defender, decried the execution as a violation of the Constitution's prohibition of "

cruel and unusual punishment Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase in common law describing punishment that is considered unacceptable due to the suffering, pain, or humiliation it inflicts on the person subjected to the sanction. The precise definition varies by jurisdi ...

", and said it could have been prevented. On July 24, 2014, Arizona temporarily halted executions following the Wood case, pending a review of its procedures. Executions did not resume in Arizona until 2022.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Joseph 1958 births 20th-century American criminals 21st-century executions by Arizona 21st-century executions of American people People executed by Arizona by lethal injection American people convicted of assault American people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Arizona 2014 in American law 2014 in Arizona People executed for murder 2014 controversies in the United States 2014 deaths Deaths by person in Arizona Executed people from Texas July 2014 events in the United States

Background

Execution

Aftermath

See also

Notes

References