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There is no question that the execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma last Tuesday was botched from a medical standpoint. According to the state’s prison chief, officials tried for over an hour to find a suitable vein in Lockett to place the IV, finally settling for one in his groin area. Whoever placed the IV did not see that the line had become dislodged from the vein, and the lethal drugs were being leaked into the body instead of going directly into the bloodstream. After the execution was called off, Lockett ended up dying of a massive heart attack 10 minutes later. According to the same report from the prison chief, Lockett refused breakfast and lunch on the day of his execution. Would it be out of the realm of possibility to think that he was dehydrating himself to make his veins harder to access and use?
Before you feel sorry for the manner of Lockett’s death, let’s review the crime that he confessed to committing on June 3, 1999. The young woman he murdered, Stephanie Neiman, had just graduated from high school:
Neiman was dropping off a friend at a Perry residence on June 3, 1999, the same evening Clayton Lockett and two accomplices decided to pull a home invasion robbery there. Neiman fought Lockett when he tried to take the keys to her truck.
The men beat her and used duct tape to bind her hands and cover her mouth. Even after being kidnapped and driven to a dusty country road, Neiman didn’t back down when Lockett asked if she planned to contact police.
The men had also beaten and kidnapped Neiman’s friend along with Bobby Bornt, who lived in the residence, and Bornt’s 9-month-old baby….
Lockett later told police “he decided to kill Stephanie because she would not agree to keep quiet,” court records state.
Neiman was forced to watch as Lockett’s accomplice, Shawn Mathis, spent 20 minutes digging a shallow grave in a ditch beside the road. Her friends saw Neiman standing in the ditch and heard a single shot.
Lockett returned to the truck because the gun had jammed. He later said he could hear Neiman pleading, “Oh God, please, please” as he fixed the shotgun.
The men could be heard “laughing about how tough Stephanie was” before Lockett shot Neiman a second time.
“He ordered Mathis to bury her, despite the fact that Mathis informed him Stephanie was still alive.”
A confessed killer suffered before his death? I don’t know if this makes me a good person or not, but it really doesn’t keep me up at night that an evil man got hurt before he paid the penalty for his crime.
It bothers President Obama, though. Even though he admits that Lockett was guilty, the president took the opportunity yet again to worry about the “inequalities” in the justice system.
“In the application of the death penalty in this country, we have seen significant problems — racial bias, uneven application of the death penalty, you know, situations in which there were individuals on death row who later on were discovered to have been innocent because of exculpatory evidence,” Mr. Obama told reporters. “And all these, I think, do raise significant questions about how the death penalty is being applied.”
I get tired of the constant grandstanding by President Obama every time there is a news event that comes up that he thinks he can make a little political capital on. The death of Trayvon Martin and the arrest of Professor Gates comes to mind immediately. We are then treated to the president’s pontificating about how horrible these events are, and lectured on why he believes that they are so horrible, and if you disagree, then you are obviously not as educated and sensitive as he is.
You know what DIDN’T bother President Obama? At least, I can presume that these events didn’t bother the president too much, because he doesn’t like to talk expansively about them. The murder of countless black children by abortionist Kermit Gosnell. The murder of a sitting American ambassador and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya. The murder rate in his hometown of Chicago (though thankfully, rates have declined for the first quarter of this year. If we are to judge the president by what he tells us bothers him, then we can reasonably infer that these crimes that he doesn’t talk about really don’t give him much pause.
And that bothers me. A lot.
Kevin says: Apparently they used a new mix of drugs in this execution that hadn’t been tested (how would you anyway?). The old mix was no longer usable since the companies who manufactured it stop production (again, apparently, due to pressure from anti-death penalty activists). If I can find the link to the article I’ll post it.
Jen says: What is wrong with the death penalty is trying to make it so humane….go back to using a firing squad, put six men with rifles and no one knows if they have the bullet or not. It’s fast, efficient, and a shot to the head is immediate death.
It is ridiculous that anyone has to stand with a needle, trying to insert it into a vein, then waiting for the drugs to take effect. Even animal euthanasia doesn’t always result in a perfect closing of the eyes and a stilling of the breath, sometimes a convulsion occurs, agonal breaths occur, etc.
So if we are that concerned that these animals get a quiet, peaceful death, let’s do it the old fashioned way that worked for centuries.
Jen says: I also wish someone had the cajones to ask dear Leader if Malia or Sasha had been in the place of Stephanie Neiman, would he still be so concerned that Lockett didn’t die immediately?
shadowofoashade says: Jen:
I’d prefer hanging (more public, and the guy isn’t worth the lead, IMO). I also am fond of ‘heads on the city gates’ method.
Merle says: I’m not familiar with this case, so bear with me if the answers are obvious. Nobody mentioned it, but I suppose the recently departed was black. I wouldn’t expect our fearless leader to be concerned other wise.
Merle
Jen says: Merle,
Yes, you are correct. Lockett was black and Stephanie was white.
Additionally, another murderer was scheduled to be executed the same day as Lockett. His execution has now been stayed while the state decides how to rectify their concerns over administering the death penalty.
This animal was convicted of the 1997 rape and murder of an 11 month old child.
The details of which follows: Her mother took her to the ER after Warner told her she wasn’t breathing after he had been alone with Adriana for several hours.
“As the staff cleaned Adriana, they removed her diaper, noticing that there was bright red blood around Adriana’s anus, as well as tears in the rectum. The injuries appeared to be recent. The staff stopped cleaning and called the police.
Adriana had a six-inch skull fracture, a broken jaw, three broken ribs, bruised lungs, and a lacerated liver and spleen. A forensic pathologist said that the injuries were likely caused between one and three hours before her death. Warner was questioned by police that night into the next morning, when he was arrested, charged, and eventually convicted of Adriana’s murder.”
Let’s all worry about whether these animals are completely comfortable during their execution.
I am opposed to the death penalty. However, the way the media has tried to make a victim out of Clayton Lockett while ignoring the rape, torture and murder of Stephanie Neiman is plain evil.
The anti-death penalty side is usually the one that behaves badly – and this is yet another sorry example.
Xavier says: If Christopher Stevens had been black he’d probably be alive today, or he’d at least be an honored hero with streets and schools being named after him. One drop of blood makes quite a difference to the President, doesn’t it?
Xavier says: Re: declining Chicago murder rate.
It’s like Obamacare numbers for the gun control lobby.
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