Death row inmate made last meal ‘mistake’ before suffering ‘excruciating’ execution

Wesley Ira Purkey, a federal death row inmate executed in 2020 for the murder of teenager Jennifer Long, reportedly experienced what medical experts later described as an “excruciating” death during his lethal injection execution.

Purkey was 68 years old when he was executed at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute. He had been sentenced to death in 2004 for the 1998 kidnapping, rape, and murder of 16-year-old Jennifer Long in Kansas City.

According to prosecutors, Jennifer disappeared after being approached by Purkey outside a grocery store on January 22, 1998. Investigators said he convinced her to enter his pickup truck before driving her to his home, where she was assaulted and killed. Her remains were never recovered.

Purkey was also convicted in the murder of Mary Bales, an 80-year-old woman he had met while performing repair work at her home. Prosecutors stated he killed her with a claw hammer before neighbors allegedly spotted him attempting to burn her body.

Before his execution, reports said Purkey requested pecan pie as his final meal and asked prison staff to save part of it “for later,” apparently unaware or unable to fully process that he would not survive the evening.

However, the most disturbing details emerged afterward through an autopsy report.

According to findings later discussed publicly, Purkey developed “severe bilateral acute pulmonary oedema” after being injected with pentobarbital, the drug used during the federal execution. The condition causes fluid to rapidly flood the lungs and airways, producing sensations many medical experts compare to drowning or suffocation.

Dr. Gail Van Norman said the autopsy findings strongly suggested Purkey was conscious during at least part of the process.

“It is a virtual medical certainty, that most, if not all, prisoners will experience excruciating suffering, including sensations of drowning and suffocation from pentobarbital.” Continue Reading ⬇️