Death Row killer begs for deadly injection as his execution is ‘lengthy overdue’
Convicted Death Row killer Aaron Brian Gunches has asked to be executed via lethal injection because he believes his execution is ‘long overdue’. He’s been awaiting the death penalty for more than 20 years
A Death Row prisoner has asked the American state of Arizona’s highest court to execute him. The inmate of Arizona State Prison pleaded guilty to a murder charge back in 2002 and he’s been on death row for more than 20 years.
Aaron Brian Gunches has asked the Arizona Supreme Court to schedule his execution for a few weeks’ time, which could mark a bringing back of the state’s use of the death penalty. There has been a two-year pause for capital punishment in Arizona while procedures were reviewed.
Gunches, aged 53, wants the highest court to bypass legal formalities and schedule his death sentence earlier than the authorities planned for. Gunches recently filed a handwritten request to the American court asking to be executed in February (2025). He said his death sentence is “long overdue”.
In 2002, Gunches went to his girlfriend’s home in Arizona and discovered the woman had been in the midst of a dispute with her ex-husband Ted Price. Reportedly, Price had been struck in the face and was on the floor injured.
Gunches, along with an acquaintance, drove Ted Price to the desert and as he left the vehicle, Gunches shot Ted dead. It was in 2003 that Gunches was pulled over by police in a routine traffic stop and he fired a gun at the officer before fleeing the scene.
Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer Robert Flannery survived the gunshot wound from Gunches, however, a huge manhunt was soon underway for the 53-year-old who was later found hiding in a haystack. Gunches was taken into custody, then in 2004 he pleaded guilty to the fatal shooting of Ted Price, his girlfriend’s ex-husband, near the suburb of Mesa in Phoenix.
Gunches isn’t a lawyer but is representing himself. He reportedly said the Arizona state was dragging its feet in asking the court for a legal briefing document in the time leading up to the execution.
Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office, which is seeking Gunches’ execution, said a briefing schedule is needed to ensure corrections officials can meet execution requirements. This includes testing the barbiturates that will be used for his lethal injection.
Two years ago, Gunches also asked the Arizona Supreme Court to issue his execution. Gunches reportedly requested that justice should be served and that the victim’s families could get closure on the case.
Gunches was set to be put to death back in April 2023. But the state wasn’t prepared to enforce the death penalty at that time because it lacked staff with expertise to carry out executions.
Arizona has more than 100 prisoners on Death Row but last carried out only three executions in 2022 following a suspension in executions for well over seven years.
There was criticism following a 2014 execution as being mismanaged, largely due to difficulties obtaining appropriate drugs for execution. Since then, the state has also been criticised for taking too long to insert an intravenous line into a convicted prisoner receiving their lethal injection at execution.
