Lethal injection will be painless, coroner says
By Karin Grunden
Tribune-Star
The clock sits low on the wall of the Terre Haute death chamber, ticking second-by-second closer to Monday's 7 a.m. execution of Timothy McVeigh.
In just two days, a deadly cocktail of drugs will course through the body of the 33-year-old Oklahoma City bomber, taking about four or five minutes before he will take his final breath, experts said.
The first drug will put him to sleep.
The second will paralyze his muscles.
The third will stop his heart.
"It will be a very painless death," said Vigo County Coroner Dr. Susan S. Amos, who is responsible for signing his death certificate.
At about 6 a.m. Monday, a "restraint team" will enter the 9- by 14-foot holding room at the U.S. Penitentiary execution facility where McVeigh will be this weekend.
He'll be strip-searched and will then dress in khaki pants, a white T-shirt and slip-on tennis shoes, according to Bureau of Prisons protocol.
He'll be secured and escorted to the execution room, where he'll be strapped down to the gurney and IVs will be inserted.
Group by group, witnesses selected from among victims and survivors, media and by McVeigh himself will be searched and granted entry into respective witness rooms, prison officials have said.
Near Oklahoma City, more than 200 survivors and victims' family members watching a closed circuit feed will witness McVeigh take his final breath.
On the day of the execution, all visitors and attorneys will be asked to leave the prison at 5 a.m., the same time prison officials establish an open telephone line with the Department of Justice.
Chief Deputy Coroner Kevin Mayes will be among the last to speak with McVeigh. He'll question the Oklahoma City bomber about any health problems and inquire whether he's been abused, and also examine him, Amos said.
McVeigh will be asked to sign a statement assuring there has been no foul play and that he has not been harmed while in custody, Amos said.
At 7 a.m., the death chamber curtains will be pulled back.
"The witnesses will see the inmate on the gurney with a sheet pulled up to his chest to cover the IVs," penitentiary spokesman Jim Cross has said.
McVeigh will make his final statement.
Witnesses to the execution will include U.S. Marshal Frank Anderson, Warden Harley Lappin and an undisclosed number of government officials.
Originally, the government planned for eight victim witnesses, but in April, Attorney General John Ashcroft said the number was inadequate. He ordered that 10 survivors of the blast or family members of victims chosen by lottery be allowed to watch in Terre Haute. The witnesses will watch through one-way glass; McVeigh will not be able to see into the victim viewing room, Cross said.
For his originally scheduled May 16 execution date, McVeigh had chosen five witnesses - novelist Gore Vidal, former conspiracy theorist Cate McCauley, reporter Lou Michel and defense attorneys Robert Nigh Jr. and Nathan Chambers. A sixth spot for a spiritual adviser remained unfilled.
Media witnesses will include one reporter from the Tribune-Star, one from The Daily Oklahoman and one from the Associated Press, according to Bureau of Prisons guidelines. Bureau guidelines also outline that the remaining seven media witnesses will be selected from a wire service, radio station, two print media organizations, two national television stations and a television station from Oklahoma City.
The selection process will begin at 4 a.m. Monday, prison officials have said. It will be up to the reporters in the media pool to finalize the selection, according to Bureau of Prisons protocol.
After reading the judgment and commitment order, Lappin will announce, "We are ready."
Using a red phone, Anderson will check with the Department of Justice Command Center and make sure no last-minute stay has been granted.
With the warden's go-ahead, sodium pentothal will be pumped into McVeigh's veins.
Dubbed "truth serum" - because in low doses it takes away your inhibitions - the drug will put him to sleep, Amos said.
"It very rapidly enters the brain and causes a deep unconsciousness," said Dr. Edward Brunner, an anesthesiology professor at Northwestern University.
The second drug, pancuronium, also known as Pavulon, relaxes the muscles, including those used in breathing.
"The drug blocks the ability for nerves to transmit information to the muscles, so muscles can't contract," said Brunner, who believe the process could potentially be painful. "None of these drugs are pain-relievers," he said.
The third drug, potassium chloride, will block the electrical signals inside McVeigh's heart, slowing his heart and then stopping it.
The executioners will signal that the drugs have been administered, according to execution protocol.
Mayes will check McVeigh's vital signs and pronounce him dead.
After the drapes have been closed, Amos and Mayes will examine
McVeigh's body on site, Mayes said.
If anything out of the ordinary is discovered during the examination, there will be the option of doing an autopsy, which would have to be approved by a federal judge, Amos said.
"Assuming everything is as it is supposed to be," his body will be turned over immediately to U.S. Marshals, Amos said, and then to one of his attorneys.
McVeigh's father, Bill, has said his son will be cremated,
with the remains going to attorney Robert Nigh Jr.
Amos will sign the death certificate, which will list "lethal
injection" as the cause of death. The certificate will be
needed for his body to be transported anywhere, she said.
A permanent mark of McVeigh's execution will remain in Vigo County - his death certificate will be filed at the county's Vital Statistic Office, the coroner said.
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