Death row man executed in ‘agonising torture’ technique after determined pleas
Death Row inmate Carey Dale Grayson has been executed by nitrogen gas hypoxia in Alabama, US.
The prisoner was killed at midnight November 21 (6pm in the US) at William C. Holman Correctional facility. The grisly method of execution has sparked controversy and been labelled as torture by some witnesses, with Grayson, 50, only the third person in the US to die this way. The chilling procedure involves strapping a gas mask over the individual’s face and replacing breathable air with nitrogen, leading to death from oxygen deprivation.
Despite Alabama’s insistence on its constitutionality, critics, including Grayson’s own legal team, have condemned the state for overlooking the “flaws” in this execution method.
READ MORE: Death Row man to become third executed in ‘agonising experiment’ dubbed torture
READ MORE: Death Row man to be dead within hours even though ‘the gun was pulled on him’
(Image: ABC)
Before his death Grayson’s lawyers drew attention to witness accounts and autopsy results from the execution of Kenneth Smith, who was the first person in the US to be executed using nitrogen gas in January 2024.
Witnesses have recounted Smith’s “torturous” demise, while an autopsy reportedly showed disturbing signs, such as his lungs filling with blood.
Dr. Brian McAlary, an anaesthesiologist working with Grayson’s legal team, suggested that these symptoms could indicate negative pressure pulmonary edema. This condition can occur when someone tries to inhale against a blocked airway, causing fluid to be drawn out of the blood vessels.
(Image: AP)
He also theorised that such a condition could result from acts like strangulation or suffocation with a plastic bag. He further highlighted the increased risk of panic if sedatives are not administered before exposure to nitrogen gas.
Grayson was found guilty of the 1994 murder of 37 year old Vickie Deblieux in Jefferson County. According to prosecutors, she was attacked by Grayson and three other teenagers after they offered her a lift while she was hitchhiking home.
They brutally assaulted her, threw her off a cliff, and then mutilated her body. The death penalty was only imposed on Grayson because he was the oldest of the teenagers.
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