Death row inmate’s final act of defiance… and his very unique ultimate meal
An Arizona man who was put to death refused to offer any final words as he received the lethal injection for murdering his girlfriend’s ex husband.
Aaron Gunches, 53, was pronounced dead at 10.33am on Wednesday. He offered no resistance as the lethal injection was administered.
Gunches pleaded guilty in 2007 to the November 2002 kidnap and murder of his girlfriend’s ex husband Ted Price.
He shot Price dead in a desert after he threatened to report her to child welfare authorities for doing drugs in front of their children.
According to Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry (ADCRR) Deputy Director John Barcello, when Gunches was asked if he’d like to say any last words, he shook his head and answered ‘no.’
But he enjoyed a final meal of onion rings, a spicy gyro, a barbecue gyro, baklava and a double western bacon cheeseburger with fries.
‘The process went according to plan, without any incident at all,’ Barcello said.
Sitting up on a gurney, covered with what looked like a white onesie and tucked in with a sheet, Gunches looked straight ahead as the lethal dose was administered.
Aaron Gunches, 53, was pronounced dead at 10.33am on Wednesday. He offered no resistance as the lethal injection was administered
Gunches pleaded guilty in 2007 to the November 2002 kidnap and murder of his girlfriend’s ex husband Ted Price (pictured)
According to Barcello, the prisoner took a few heavy breaths and let out a snoring-type sound after the lethal injection.
He was arrested in January 2003 after being pulled over by an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper near the California state line.
Gunches shot the trooper, who was saved by a bulletproof vest. Bullet casings from that shooting matched ammunition that had been found near Price’s body, and Gunches was charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in October 2003.
He pleaded guilty to first degree murder in 2007.
Price’s daughter, Brittney Price, said in a statement that the ‘pain of reliving the circumstances surrounding my father’s death for over two decades has taken a significant toll on my family and me.’
He shot Price dead in a desert after he threatened to report her to child welfare authorities for doing drugs in front of their children
Price’s family (sister Karen pictured) described her brother as a kind and loving person
‘Today marks the end of that painful chapter and I couldn’t be more grateful,’ she said.
Gunches, who represented himself even though he isn’t a lawyer, asked the Arizona Supreme Court in 2022 to issue an execution warrant against him to give closure to Price’s family. He later withdrew the request.
Then in late December, asked the state’s highest court to skip legal formalities and schedule his execution as soon as possible, saying his death sentence was ‘long overdue.’
Gunches is the second person executed this week in the U.S. Louisiana executed a man on Tuesday, and two more executions were scheduled in Florida and Oklahoma on Thursday.
