The state of Oklahoma is set to resume executing prisoners this week after the US Supreme Court rejected complaints that the lethal injection process was inhumane.
On Wednesday, convicted murderer Richard Glossip is due to become the 113th prisoner to die in the past four decades. Oklahoma executes more people per head of population than any other US state.
But last year a botched execution in which a prisoner took three quarters of an hour to die drew national and international condemnation.
Randall Workman has witnessed more executions than almost any man in America - a total of 32 in Oklahoma.
In an exclusive interview with Sky News, he defended the death penalty and how it is carried out, saying every execution is different.
He said: "I had some individuals that were being executed that were very nurturing to us and said 'I'm going to go to heaven don't worry about me everything is just fine'. I have had some individuals that said 'you're going to go to hell, you are committing murder yourself, and you think that's justice for you to commit the same crime that others commit?'
"You find yourself in that last 30 minutes of a person's life, and you debate on what conversation could I have... and what conversation should I have. Well, I'm a spiritual person. I'm a Christian. Some of those individuals who were Christian, we had that discussion. Some of those people who weren't Christian and didn't want to have that conversation… we talked about other things."
In June, the US Supreme Court ruled Oklahoma could resume lethal injections despite complaints that a shortage of drugs was forcing states to experiment with unsuitable alternatives. Mr Workman reassured prisoners they would feel nothing.
"You're going to go to sleep. You're going to start snoring and then you're going to pass away quietly. Now the flip side of that is, I can't remember the number of times that I seen victim's families that was hostile about that. 'I didn't get what I want from it. I didn't see what I wanted to see. I didn't get satisfaction. All they did is went to sleep’."
Asked whether those relatives wanted to see prisoners suffer pain, he said 'yes'. He described how the relative of one victim said she wanted to eat popcorn while watching the murderer put to death. It was not allowed.
"I absolutely would keep the death penalty," he said. "People (say) the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime. Yes it is. That individual will never commit a crime again."
Asked whether he ever feared that mistakes had been made and an innocent man was executed, Mr Workman paused and thought about it.
"I hear the stories and I see the shows where the DNA has proven that a person was wrongfully committed. Can I say it's possible? Yes I can say it's possible. Do I personally feel like I've executed somebody that is innocent? I'd say that it's not for me to say. The courts have decided. And from that standpoint until they decide otherwise, until they say he is innocent, then he's guilty and I go with it."
Glossip has always maintained his innocence but the former warden says that is not unusual.
"I'd say of the 32 people that I've executed, I'd say probably 20% of the people would say 'you're executing an innocent man', 'I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time' or ‘I really didn't do nothing wrong'."
Glossip is due to die at 3pm on Wednesday. He is currently alone in a cell next door to the room where his life will be ended.
(Sky News)
No comments:
Post a Comment