real shame isn't it? should have been done years ago. On Oct 15, 6:42 am, Cold Water <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The U.S. Supreme Court denied without comment Cooey's appeal based on his > claim that Ohio's lethal injection method could cause a painful death. > > The court already had rejected his claim that he is too fat to be humanely > executed by lethal injection because his obesity would make it too hard for > prison officials to find a vein. > > Richard Wade Cooey II executed for McCreery, Offredo murders > Posted by dsims October 14, 2008 20:17PM > Haraz Ghanbari/Columbus Dispatch via APRichard Cooey was executed shortly > after 10 a.m. today. > • Supreme Court denies Cooey's appeal > > Richard Wade Cooey II died peacefully Tuesday with a lethal combination of > drugs administered through two needles inserted gently into veins in each arm. > > He was executed by the state of Ohio for the rape and murders -- by > bludgeoning and strangulation -- of two college students who were not > afforded such comfort in their deaths. > > "It's done," said Mary Ann Hackenberg, mother of one of the victims, Dawn > McCreery, who said she could sense her daughter's presence in the death > chamber. > > "I know she was there," she said. "I felt her there." > > Cooey was sentenced to death in 1986 for the rape and murder that year of the > 20-year-old McCreery and her sorority sister, Wendy Offredo, 21. He was hours > away from execution when he won a reprieve in 2003. Tuesday, his appeals ran > out when the U.S. Supreme Court denied his last-ditch effort. > > He remained defiant even in his final statement, uttering an obscenity when > Warden Phillip Collins held a microphone above his lips, before a combination > of three drugs flowed through the tubes over the course of nearly 10 minutes, > ending his life. > > "You . . . haven't paid any attention to what I've had to say over the past > 22½ years, why are you going to pay attention to what I have to say now?" he > said, not looking at any of the six witnesses from the McCreery family or his > three lawyers and a spiritual adviser, who were witnesses. > > At 10:06 a.m., a monitor in the witness viewing room flickered to life, > showing Cooey lying on a gurney in a prep room adjacent to the death chamber, > his feet crossed. Technicians inserted ports into veins in each arm without > difficulty, despite his legal claims that his veins would be too difficult to > access partly because of his obesity. > > Mary Ann Hackenberg of Rocky River, Dawn McCreery's mother and one of six > witnesses from the McCreery family, said, "They got it," when the needle was > inserted. > > Cooey shouted for his lawyer, Greg Meyers, twice. Meyers, who was in the > witness room along with two other lawyers and Cooey's spiritual adviser, did > not move. > > At 10:15 a.m., with ports inserted and his arms strapped to boards, Cooey > kicked his legs, got off the gurney, and walked to the death chamber, where > he climbed onto another gurney. Six guards in white strapped him down with > four black straps. Tubing, which extended from the wall in the adjacent room, > was connected to the ports. > > At 10:19, Cooey made his final statement and drummed his fingers -- pinky to > index finger -- on the board supporting his left arm. At 10:21, he exhaled > with a faint noise. Warden Phillip Kerns of the Southern Ohio Correctional > Facility shook Cooey's shoulder. He did not respond. By 10:28, he was dead. > Sodium pentothal induced deep sleep, pancuronium bromide stopped his > breathing, and potassium chloride stopped his heart. > > Hackenberg threw back her head and exhaled as a curtain was drawn across the > viewing window. She hugged her son, Rob McCreery, and held the hand of her > ex-husband, Robert McCreery Sr. A black hearse waited outside the death house > to take Cooey's body. > > Dana Cole, who identified himself as Cooey's lawyer and friend and to whom > Cooey's cremated remains will be given, said Cooey was an immature > 19-year-old influenced by drugs and alcohol when he committed his crime. > > "What we witness here today was a killing that was planned and funded for > more than 22 years," he said. "The man killed was not the same man who > committed the crimes." > > Rob McCreery, Dawn's brother, said Cooey is exactly the same, proven by his > final words. > > "Just being spiteful to the very end," said Rob McCreery. "It just shows how > much this was warranted and justified." > > After the execution, the family talked of their relief that Cooey had finally > been brought to justice and the peacefulness of his passing despite his > claims that lethal injection was "cruel and unusual." > > "The thing that's going to now give us the greatest comfort is knowing that > he now has to be accountable to a power greater than himself and now he's got > to reckon with that," said Dawn McCreery's cousin, Kathy Miska, one of the > witnesses of the execution. > > Hackenberg was at once relieved and still angry. > > "It was too easy. It's as much justice as we're going to get, as much closure > as we'll get, but it was just too easy," she said. > > "He didn't get a free pass," said her husband, John Hackenberg. > > Rob McCreery said he had hoped for the execution for so long -- he was 17 > when his big sister was killed -- that he's not sure where to turn his > attention now. > > "But I can tell you it was a nicer day coming out of there than it was going > in," he said. > > Cooey is to first Ohio inmate to be executed since May 2007, the 27th since > 1999. > > Cooey was 19 and home on leave from the Army when, in 1986, the Akron native > and an accomplice, 17-year-old Clint Dickens, raped and murdered Offredo and > McCreery. > > Dickens threw a chunk of concrete from an overpass onto Offredo's car, > disabling it. They then drove down to the highway and picked up the women, > offering to get them help. Instead, they drove them to a secluded field in > Norton where they raped them, beat them with a wooden club and strangled them > with shoelaces. > > Dickens was sentenced to life in prison for the crimes, in which both girls > suffered through more than three hours of what Summit County Prosecutor > Sherri Bevan Walsh called "fear and torture and agony." Because he was He was > still a juvenile when he committed the crime, he and wasn't eligible for the > death penalty. > > The night before his execution, as Cooey sat on his bed or paced and slept > for slightly more than an hour, Dawn McCreery's family gathered in her > brother Rob's hotel room, sharing stories, watching the Browns' unexpected > victory and drinking cold beers. Summit County Prosecutor Sheri Bevan Walsh > joined them. > > Rob McCreery opened a gift bag from a former Alpha Delta Pi sorority sister > of Dawn and Wendy. It was a shirt with the sorority's Greek lettering, one > that Dawn had actually worn. The card said it was for Rob McCreery's > 5-year-old daughter. > > The morning sky, still dark, was full of stars as a nearly full moon loomed > over the hills of Lucasville. At breakfast in the Holiday Inn Express, > someone noted that it was a harvest moon. > > Perfect for execution day. "You reap what you sow," said Nicole McCreery, > Rob's wife. > > http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/10/richard_wade_cooey_ii_execute... > > large_richard_cooey_execution.jpg > 55KViewDownload --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
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