NATION : Execution Botch Requires 2nd Jolt
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ATMORE, Ala. — A “human error” forced Alabama prison officials to use two jolts of power early today in the execution of a mentally retarded man for repeatedly raping and stabbing a mother of four. The first try failed because of a cable connection mistake.
Horace Franklin Dunkins Jr., 28, was declared dead at 12:27 a.m., 19 minutes after the executioner first flipped the switch. State Prison Commissioner Morris Thigpen said the jacks connecting electricity to the chair were reversed and did not deliver enough voltage to kill Dunkins on the first try.
“It was human error,” Thigpen said. “I just hope he was not conscious and did not suffer.”
Thigpen said the first throw of the switch at 12:08 a.m. brought no visible response from the condemned man. Two doctors who examined Dunkins determined he was unconscious, but had a strong heartbeat. At 12:17 a.m., the switch was thrown a second time and 10 minutes later, Dunkins was pronounced dead.
Steve Ellis, Dunkins’ attorney who witnessed the execution with the prisoner’s father, described the death as a “grisly scene.”
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