A recent autopsy report has revealed the disturbing details of the execution of Wesley Ira Purkey, a death row inmate who suffered excruciating pain during his lethal injection. Purkey was placed on death row in 2004 after he was convicted of kidnapping, raping, and murdering 16-year-old Jennifer Long in 1998. Long was last seen at East High School in Kansas City, Missouri, after skipping classes.
Purkey reportedly lured her into his pick-up truck outside a supermarket, drove her to his home, and then raped and stabbed her to death. He dismembered her body with a chainsaw, partially burned it in a fireplace, and buried it in a septic pond in Clearwater, Kansas. Jennifer’s remains were never found.
Purkey’s heinous acts did not end there. He also beat 80-year-old Mary Bales, who suffered from polio to death with a claw hammer. Purkey had gone to Mary’s home to fix a kitchen tap when he committed the murder. Neighbors saw him trying to burn Mary’s body, leading to his arrest.
Purkey’s execution was meant to bring justice to the victims’ families, but it turned out to be a horrific experience. According to the autopsy report, Purkey suffered “severe bilateral acute pulmonary edema” and “frothy pulmonary edema in the trachea and main stem bronchi.” These medical terms describe the rapid influx of fluid into Purkey’s lungs and trachea, which caused him to feel like he was drowning. This sensation is considered “among the most excruciating feelings known to man,” according to a medical expert.
The cause of Purkey’s suffering was reportedly due to a mistake he made with his last meal. It is not clear what exactly the mistake was, but it is believed to have caused Purkey to vomit and aspirate, leading to the fluid buildup in his lungs. The disturbing details of Purkey’s execution highlight the flaws and inhumanity of the death penalty system. It is a reminder that even those who commit heinous crimes are still human beings and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
JUST IN: Wesley Purkey was executed after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the second federal execution since 2003 https://t.co/NcpAd6W4i7 pic.twitter.com/z75VdVpmr2
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Dr. Gail Van Norman, a medical expert, confirmed that Wesley Ira Purkey suffered excruciating pain during his execution and stated that it was a virtual medical certainty that prisoners would experience sensations of drowning and suffocation from the lethal injection drug, pentobarbital. She explained that the filling of Purkey’s lungs could only have occurred while he was still alive. Purkey allegedly suffered from dementia and had requested pecan pie as his last meal. He had asked to save it for later, not realizing that he would not have the opportunity to eat it later.
Before his execution at an Indiana prison, Purkey expressed his deep regret for the pain and suffering he caused Jennifer Long’s family, the teenager he had brutally raped, murdered, and dismembered in 1998. He also apologized to his daughter, whom he loved so very much, for the pain he had caused her. Purkey’s execution was described as “sanitized murder” that served no purpose by the killer himself.
Jennifer’s father and stepmother had been waiting for Purkey’s execution for a long time, believing that it was long overdue. They told reporters that Purkey needed to take his last breath, just like he had taken their daughter’s last breath. William Long, Jennifer’s father, expressed his relief that justice had finally been served.
Purkey’s case highlights the controversy and inhumanity of the death penalty system. While it may provide a sense of justice to the victims’ families, it raises ethical questions about the morality of the state-sanctioned taking of a human life. The risk of causing excruciating pain during the execution process further complicates the issue. The execution of a human being is a serious matter, and it is crucial to ensure that the process is carried out with dignity, respect, and as much compassion as possible.
And what about the victims whom he killed??????????? He may have suffered at his death, but so did the two he killed.
This animal received absolutely EVERYTHING he deserved !
His 2 victoms suffered extreme deaths. Seems like real justice has been served.
Any person who kills another human, whether they feel it was justified or not will answer for their action. By taking this mans life and watching him suffer is no better than what he did to his victim. No where does it say ….”Go ahead and kill this man because he killed someone else.” To expediate a death is murder.
I am not saying it is right or wrong to be accountable to man’s laws. But I must remind myself this man, driven by lust or mental disorder, kidnapped a 16 year old girl, molested and raped her, stabbed her to death to ensure she could not identify him and accuse him of the heinous act of rape. He further dismembered her dead body and burnt the pieces in a fireplace. When he couldn’t get rid of her remains quick enough he disposed of the remnants of this young girls body in a sewage pond. I am willing to meet my God and ask him to forgive me my failings for not feeling remorse for this man’s death at the hands of man.
But there IS the “eye for an eye” statement.
Well it says it in Genesis 9:6 – “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”
So there’s that!
I wonder how civil he was when he killed his victims?
no sympathy for scumbag. he deserves to suffer
“Purkey was placed on death row in 2004 after he was convicted of kidnapping, raping, and murdering 16-year-old Jennifer Long in 1998. Long was last seen at East High School in Kansas City, Missouri, after skipping classes.”
I’m sure her murder was also “excruciating” and part of the lethal injection process is that the person is first rendered unconscious much like an operating procedure. So likely he did not feel anything.
Did that animal give a damn about the pain he caused his victims? My guess it was excruciating and inhumane also.
I hope this piece of human garbage felft lots of pain and agony in his final moments. He is not owed a bit of respect or dignity from anyone. If I could be allowed to put him down I would do it with no regret whats so ever.
He earned EVERY ounce of the pain and suffering he received ! Just a shame to waste good food on him that could have gone to someone needy.
Did this monster give a dam about his victim’s as he committed the most heinous crimes against them? A young female to begin with that had so much more lice ahead of her. He took her life after raping her and then cut her body apart with a chainsaw burning part of it in a fire and then buried the remaining portion of her body in a retaining pond so that her family will never be able to have closure in bringing their daughter home and giving her a burial. Then this scum bag goes and kills an 80 year old woman with a claw hammer and you people want to cry on our shoulders about how terrible the monsters execution was performed. Are you kidding me, this piece of crap should have been tortured and put to death the most painful way known to mankind because isn’t that what he did to his victim’s? Oh I know some of you want to turn the other cheek and forgive and forget well guess what some people are just down right evil and those that are evil must be destroyed or they will continue to rape and kill again. How would you like him as your next door neighbor? Rot in Hell you piece of S—!
He suffered and that is very good news.
And exactly why should we upset???? I guess I believe in an “eye for an eye”.
Anyone who reads the Bible would know that stoning was a method that God said should be used on criminals who took another life. I don’t think God was too worried about how humane stoning might feel to the criminal that deserved the penalty!
The purpose of the death penalty is not to coddle a murderer. It is to make him fear the punishment and make him or her think about the fact that they will meet as horrific and end as they are extending to their victim. The end should rob them of all the rights that they have stolen from the person they have perpetrated against. If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.