For the second time this week, a man was executed by lethal injection inside a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Wesley Ira Purkey was strapped to a gurney inside the execution chamber. A prison official removed a mask from Purkey's face and asked him if he wanted to make a final statement. He leaned his head up slightly from the gurney and said: "I deeply regret the pain and suffering I caused to Jennifer's family. I am deeply sorry."
He also expressed remorse for his own adult daughter's suffering his actions caused. "I deeply regret the pain I caused to my daughter, who I love so very much," he said. His last words were: "This sanitized murder really does not serve no purpose whatsoever. Thank you."
Wesley Ira Purkey was pronounced dead at 8:19 a.m. on Thursday, July 16, 2020.
Mr. Purkey's attorneys argued that he suffered from advanced Alzheimer's disease and did not understand why he was facing the death penalty. Purkey's religious adviser had also appealed to the high court, arguing that his religious obligation to be present for the execution put him at risk of exposure to COVID-19. The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the execution to take place just hours before, ruling in a 5-4 decision.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting, wrote that "proceeding with Purkey's execution now, despite the grave questions and factual findings regarding his mental competency, casts a shroud of constitutional doubt over the most irrevocable of injuries." "Purkey is mentally incompetent to be executed and, at minimum, is entitled to an evidentiary hearing to evaluate his mental competence before the Government proceeds with his execution." She was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan.
The high court's decision came after the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia imposed two injunctions against Purkey's execution (see previous post here), citing arguments that he is not competent to be executed. An appeals court late Wednesday upheld one of the injunctions, which was then appealed to the Supreme Court.