An autopsy report indicates that a death row inmate experienced an “excruciating” execution due to an error in his last meal.
Wesley Ira Purkey was 68 years old when he died by lethal injection after he was placed on death row in 2004 for kidnapping, raping, and then murdering 16-year-old schoolgirl Jennifer Long in 1998.
The adolescent student was last observed at East High School in Kansas City, Missouri on January 22. Concerns were raised when she did not show up for her classes.
Purkey is said to have enticed the girl into his pickup truck outside a grocery store. Subsequently, he transported her to his residence, where he committed the heinous acts of rape and fatal stabbing. Following these horrifying events, her body underwent dismemberment using a chainsaw and was partially incinerated in a fireplace. The assailant then buried her remains in a septic pond in Clearwater, Kansas. It’s worth noting that Jennifer’s remains have never been located, as per information from the Death Penalty Information Center.
Subsequently, Purkey proceeded to fatally beat 80-year-old polio sufferer Mary Bales with a claw hammer. The gruesome incident occurred after he visited Mary’s residence under the pretense of fixing a kitchen tap. Following the murder, Purkey was apprehended when vigilant neighbors witnessed his attempt to burn Mary’s body.
Wesley Ira Purkey reportedly lured the girl into his pick-up truck outside a grocery store. He then drove her to his home before raping and fatally stabbing her. Credit: Paul Harris / Getty
Following his execution by lethal injection, Purkey’s autopsy disclosed that he experienced “severe bilateral acute pulmonary edema” and “frothy pulmonary edema in trachea and main stem bronchi.”
Essentially, this indicated that fluid rapidly entered his lungs and trachea, leading to a sensation akin to “near-drowning.” A medical expert described this experience as “among the most excruciating feelings known to man.”
Dr. Gail Van Norman, a medical authority, asserted that the saturation of Purkey’s lungs must have occurred during his live state. She stated, “It is highly likely from a medical standpoint that a significant number, if not all, of the inmates will undergo intense and agonizing distress, which includes feelings of drowning and suffocation due to the administration of pentobarbital, the lethal injection drug.”
Purkey, purportedly grappling with dementia, had expressed a desire for pecan pie as his final meal, even requesting to set it aside for later. However, he seemed unaware that there wouldn’t be a subsequent moment to enjoy it.
Purkey’s final words before he was executed at an Indiana prison reportedly were: “I deeply regret the pain and suffering I caused to Jennifer’s family. I am deeply sorry. I deeply regret the pain I caused to my daughter, who I love so very much. This sanitized murder really does not serve no purpose whatsoever.”
According to The New York Times, Jennifer’s father and stepmother conveyed to reporters that Purkey’s execution was overdue. William Long, Jennifer’s father, remarked, “He needed to take his last breath, he took my daughter’s last breath.”
