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Death row executions that went very, very wrong

hopticsOctober 23, 2025

The majority of executions of death row prisoners go off without a hitch. However, the occasional state-sanctioned killing of a criminal can turn into a slow-motion disaster, showing just how messy the machinery of death can really be. From lethal injections that dragged on for nearly two hours to firing squads that missed their mark, these are the moments when the system failed to deliver the quick, clinical endings that it promised. Each case here is real, recorded and really quite grim (Pictures: Arizona Department of Corrections/Florida Department of Corrections/AP)

Clayton Lockett (Oklahoma, 2014) – Lethal injection

FILE - This June 29, 2011 file photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, shows Clayton Lockett. Execution dates are being set for three Oklahoma death-row inmates even as state officials continue to investigate what went wrong with a botched execution in April of Lockett. (AP Photo/Oklahoma Department of Corrections, File) — Back in 2014, the man who kidnapped, beat and buried 19 year-old Stephanie Neiman alive was meant to be the test case for Oklahoma’s new lethal injection protocol. Instead, his execution became something of a national scandal. The IV line in his groin slipped through the vein, sending drugs into surrounding tissue instead of into his bloodstream. As the midazolam failed to sedate him, he convulsed and tried to speak before dying of a heart attack some 43 excruciating minutes later. The state’s promise of a modern, painless system dissolved on the spot, replaced by panic, curtains and the muffled sounds of a man dying a lot slower than planned. (Picture: AP/Oklahoma Department of Corrections, File)

Charles Warner (Oklahoma, 2015) – Lethal injection

FILE - This June 29, 2011 photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Charles Warner. Execution dates are being set for Oklahoma three death-row inmates, including Warner, even as state officials continue to investigate what went wrong with a botched execution in April. (AP Photo/Oklahoma Department of Corrections, File) — Oklahoma’s attempt to regain some sort of credibility after Clayton Lockett’s ordeal lasted exactly one execution. Charles Warner, sentenced for the rape and murder of an infant, was killed with what seemed like routine precision. Officials from the state and penal system were, naturally, very pleased. Only later did an autopsy reveal that staff had used potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride – the wrong chemical to stop the heart. The mistake was discovered months later when another prisoner’s execution was halted for the same reason. Warner’s death, quiet at the time, became another embarrassment that ended up seeing a shutdown of the state’s death chamber indefinitely. (Picture: AP)

Joseph Wood (Arizona, 2014) – Lethal injection

14483253 The death row inmate who can't wait to die The exe?cu?tion of Joseph Wood III in Arizona on July 23 took near?ly two hours, with wit?ness?es report?ing that Wood gasped and snort?ed more than 600 times dur?ing the pro?ce?dure. Wood was exe?cut?ed using mida?zo?lam and hyr?dro?mor?phone, the same drug pro?to?col used in January?s botched exe?cu?tion of Dennis McGuire. — Another botched state execution from 2014 now. And our third and final example involving a needle. Wood was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend Debra Dietz, alongside her father Gene. His death was supposed to last ten minutes at most. Instead, it became a marathon. The untested drug combination of midazolam and hydromorphone kept him conscious enough to gasp and snort through nearly two hours of suffering. Witnesses counted more than 600 breaths before he finally stopped moving. Prison staff pushed in extra doses as reporters whispered that something had gone terribly wrong. It was one of the longest executions in US history and it reignited questions over whether lethal injection was really any better than the gallows that the supposedly safer and more human process had replaced. (Picture: Arizona Department of Corrections)

Jesse Tafero (Florida, 1990) – Electric chair

When sparks began flying all over the place, it was clear something had gone desperately wrong. Tafero, convicted of killing two police officers at a highway rest stop, was strapped into Florida’s infamous electric chair, Old Sparky. On the first jolt, flames shot from his mask and smoke filled the room. The issue? Technicians had used a synthetic sponge instead of a wet natural one, breaking the current and turning the execution into a fire. It ended up taking a full three surges to end his life. The horror of the scene lingered for years, becoming one of the defining images of the death penalty’s decline in America. (Picture: Florida Department of Correction)

Jimmy Lee Gray (Mississippi, 1983) – Gas chamber

Jimmy Lee Gray - gas chamber. Mississippi, 1983 NO CREDIT — The Magnolia State’s final gas chamber execution was meant to be clinical. Just as they’re all supposed to be. Instead, it was absolute chaos. Gray, condemned for the rape and murder of a three year-old girl, convulsed violently as cyanide gas filled the chamber. He hit his head repeatedly on a metal pole, groaning as reporters counted the seconds. After several minutes, guards panicked and ended up clearing the witness room. But the hugely disturbing noises continued until Gray finally died. Mississippi abandoned gas executions soon after, though not quickly enough to erase the memory of what everyone in that chamber saw and heard that day. (Picture: No credit)

Mikal Deen Mahdi (South Carolina, 2025) – Firing squad

In this handout photograph taken and released by South Carolina Department of Corrections on April 10, 2025 shows Mikal Mahdi, 42, to be executed by firing squad for the 2004 murder of an off-duty police officer. A 42-year-old man convicted of the 2004 murder of an off-duty police officer is to be put to death by firing squad in South Carolina on Friday, the second such execution in the US state this year. Myers, a 56-year-old police captain, was shot nine times after he found Mahdi hiding in a shed on his property. His body was then set on fire. (Photo by HANDOUT / South Carolina Department of Corrections / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / South Carolina Department of Corrections / HANDOUT / " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by HANDOUT/South Carolina Department of Corrections/AFP via Getty Images) — After years on death row for killing a police officer in 2002, Mahdi faced a firing squad rather than lethal injection. The method was supposed to be swift and precise: three shooters aiming at the heart. But when his autopsy was released, only two bullet wounds were found. Neither of which were in the target area. Witnesses said he groaned and breathed for about 80 seconds after the shots. Officials insisted the execution was humane. Even with rifles and careful aim, the state proved that perfection in killing is mostly a myth (Picture: South Carolina Department of Corrections/AFP/Getty Images)

John McCaffary (Wisconsin, 1851) – Hanging

John McCaffary burial marker, Green Ridge Cemetery, Kenosha, Wisconsin (Picture: MattHucke/Wikimedia) — For our final selection, we go back almost 175 years ago, finding ourselves over in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Public hangings were meant to send a message. They were, of course, something of a macabre form of public entertainment for many centuries. 30 year-old McCaffary’s hanging, however (for drowning his wife Bridgett in a backyard cistern), sent the wrong kind of message. The drop was miscalculated, leaving him dangling and choking – but alive – for more than 20 minutes. All while hundreds of onlookers gawped, some screaming for mercy. By the time he stopped moving, several spectators had fainted. The backlash was immediate. Wisconsin outlawed capital punishment soon after, turning its first ever public hanging into its last. (Picture: Matt Hucke/Wikimedia)

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