Dennis McGuire's Prolonged Execution 'Inhumane' and 'Evil,' Says Ohio Priest Who Witnessed Death
A Catholic priest from Ohio who witnessed the prolonged execution of convicted murderer Dennis McGuire last week described it as "inhumane" and "evil," noting that the felon prayed for forgiveness for his crimes.
"What I saw was inhumane. I don't know how any objective observer could come up with any conclusion other than that injection was an evil way to go," Fr. Lawrence Hummer of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Chillicothe, Ohio, wrote in an article for The Guardian on Wednesday, revealing that he attended the execution as McGuire' spiritual adviser.
McGuire's execution last week caused controversy after he was given an untested combination of chemicals that had him gasp for air, snort and choke for 10 of the 14 minutes he took to officially die. The 53-year-old convict is believed to have experienced a rare medical phenomenon known as an "air hunger" after he was administered a dose of midazolam, a sedative, and hydromorphone, a morphine derivative.
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Some Christian organizations such as the National Black Church Initiative said that churchgoers were "morally outraged" at the "brutal" way in which McGuire was killed, accusing the state of Ohio of committing "murder without mercy."
"Evil is the only appropriate word to describe the agonizing death of Mr. McGuire. We will not have any part of the State of Ohio brutally murdering God's children, though they will in the end have to answer to God," said the Rev. Anothony Evans, president of NBCI.
Others have reminded readers, however, that McGuire's victim, 22-year-old Joy Stewart, was 30-weeks pregnant and suffered a great deal more when she was removed from her car, raped and stabbed in Preble County, western Ohio in 1989.
"There has been a lot of controversy regarding the drugs that are to be used in his execution, concern that he might feel terror, that he might suffer. As I recall the events preceding her death, forcing her from the car, attempting to rape her vaginally, sodomizing her, choking her, stabbing her, I know she suffered terror and pain. He is being treated far more humanely than he treated her," the Stewart family said in a statement.
In his account, Hummer revealed that he began visiting McGuire in November and celebrated mass with him, urging him to pray for forgiveness for killing Stewart and her unborn child.
"I had to deal with him as I do anyone else who repents: as a forgiven sinner. It can be very difficult for people not in the religion to accept that with regard to a murderer, but the faith is clear: once forgiven, you are forgiven, no matter how heinous the sin," the priest revealed.
Recounting some of the gruesome details behind the execution, Hummer noted McGuire was brought in the room strapped to the gurney, but after he made his final statement and told his children he will see them in heaven, the procedure began going wrong.
"They began to put lines into him. That was unsettling, as from what I could observe they seemed to find it hard to … insert the IV and there seemed to be blood coming from his right arm," the priest wrote, adding that after the chemicals took effect, his stomach swelled and he began struggling audibly for air.
"I was aghast. Over those 11 minutes or more he was fighting for breath, and I could see both of his fists were clenched the entire time. His gasps could be heard through the glass wall that separated us. Towards the end, the gasping faded into small puffs of his mouth. It was much like a fish lying along the shore puffing for that one gasp of air that would allow it to breathe. Time dragged on and I was helpless to do anything, sitting helplessly by as he struggled for breath. I desperately wanted out of that room."
Hummer noted that he stands behind the Roman Catholic Church position which opposes capital punishment, and said that the death penalty denies people a chance to repent, and is a way for society to avoid the potential of changing lives.
"Now that almost a week has passed, and I've had time to reflect, I ask that the governor of Ohio or the legislature end the death penalty in this state. It serves no purpose. People must seize this culture of death and stop it," he concluded.
