The US is one of the few Western nations that still permits the death penalty, carried out regularly in 27 states.
asserted
that → permit → states
And in a country where regional political culture strongly favours retributive justice, it is no wonder capital punishment remains an enduring part of the American legal system.
But following Christa Pike's botched lethal injection last week, fresh questions are being raised over whether executing convicted murderers and rapists outweighs the risks of an innocent person being put to death, or of an execution going so badly that a prisoner is left to die in agony, or even survives the attempt.
asserted
prisoner → favour → attempt
Pike was injected with at least seven needles as medical staff attempted to give her two lethal doses of pentobarbital on September 30.
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staff → inject → September
Her arms were left 'swollen, burned, and blistered', her attorneys said, but she did not die.
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she → leave → ?
The execution was halted and Pike was rushed to hospital.
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Pike → halt → hospital
After a week of life-saving treatment, Pike is now conscious and speaking, while shackled to a hospital bed.
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Pike → save → bed
The prison chief who oversaw Pike's attempted execution is due to step down from his role later this month following the scandal, which saw the convicted murderer cry out in pain during the botched procedure.
asserted
murderer → oversee → procedure
The execution attempt lasted almost an hour before it was ultimately halted.
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it → last → ?
During the ordeal, Pike complained that 'my arm feels like it's about to burst open' and, at another point, asked: 'Does this happen like that?'
asserted
this → complain → that
After 53 minutes, media witnesses were ushered out of the execution chamber, with reporters saying they could still hear Pike loudly snoring as the attempt was brought to an end.
But Pike's botched execution is just one of a long list of failed and horrifying executions in the US in recent decades, some of which have seen prisoners engulfed in flames, convulse and vomit, or bleed profusely from the face in scenes resembling a horror film.
uncertain
prisoners → usher → film
Here are 11 of the most disturbing botched executions recorded in American history.
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11 → botch → history
The US is one of the few Western nations that still permits the death penalty, carried out regularly in 27 states
Pike was injected with at least seven needles as medical staff attempted to give her two lethal doses of pentobarbital on September 30
The man who suffocated to death for 22 minutes
Kenneth Eugene Smith was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher's wife in 1988, where he was paid just $1,000 for the hit.
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he → permit → hit
He met his end in 2024, after over 30 years on death row, as the first person in history to be executed via nitrogen hypoxia.
asserted
He → meet → hypoxia
On January 25, Smith was led inside the execution chamber at the William C. Holman prison in Atmore, Alabama and strapped to a gurney.
asserted
Smith → lead → gurney
As he spoke his final words, delivered through the gas mask that had been placed on his face, Smith made a heart sign with his left hand to his family before declaring: 'Tonight Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards...
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humanity → speak → step
I’m leaving with love, peace and light.'
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I → leave → love
What followed was what witnesses called a 'horrific' 22-minute ordeal as he slowly suffocated on a stream of 100 percent nitrogen gas.
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he → follow → gas
The murderer's spiritual guide, Jeff Hood, described the execution as the 'worst thing' he had ever seen, claiming prison officials gasped in shock as he died far slower than anticipated.
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he → describe → shock
'When they turned the nitrogen on, he began to convulse, he popped up on the gurney over and over again, he shook the whole gurney,' Hood said.
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Hood → turn → gurney
At one point as the killer tore against his restraints, his wife Deanna, wearing a T-shirt reading 'Never Alone', desperately cried out for him from the witness box.
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killer → tear → box
'(Smith) kept breathing for what could possibly be up to nine minutes, ten minutes, unbelievable evil was unleashed tonight in Alabama...
uncertain
evil → keep → Alabama
that was torture,' Hood said.
asserted
Hood → say → ?
Smith was officially pronounced dead at 8.25pm local time, 22 minutes after the nitrogen gas was first administered.
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gas → pronounce → time
Despite Kenneth Smith's grim end from nitrogen hypoxia, murderer Anthony Boyd was executed in Alabama just a year later using the same method.
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Boyd → execute → method
In 1993, Boyd and others strapped a man named Gregory Huguley to a bench, doused him in petrol and set him on fire, over a $200 cocaine debt.
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Boyd → strap → debt
On October 23, 2025 Boyd was led into the death chamber at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama.
asserted
Boyd → lead → Atmore
He was strapped to a gurney and fitted with a mask through which nitrogen gas was pumped, with the protocol requiring the flow to continue for five minutes after his death.
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gas → strap → death
Boyd's execution lasted more than 30 minutes.
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execution → last → minutes
Witnesses said he repeatedly convulsed and heaved, gasping for air around 200 times during the ordeal.
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he → say → ordeal
'He was sitting there, suffocating, trying to breathe for 19 minutes,' said the Rev Jeff Hood, a spiritual adviser to Boyd who was present in the room.
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who → sit → room
Boyd was pronounced dead after 15 minutes, but the disturbing scenes witnessed inside the chamber would remain with those present long after the execution was over.
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execution → pronounce → those
The US Supreme Court had refused to block the execution, although Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, described nitrogen hypoxia as a 'cruel form of execution that should not be allowed to continue'.
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that → refuse → execution
In her dissenting opinion, Sotomayor urged readers to open the stopwatch app on their phones and let it run for four minutes.
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it → dissent → minutes
'Now imagine for that entire time, you are suffocating,' she wrote.
asserted
you → imagine → time
'You want to breathe; you have to breathe.
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you → want → ?
But you are strapped to a gurney with a mask on your face pumping your lungs with nitrogen gas.'
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you → strap → gas
In his final statement, Boyd maintained his innocence.
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Boyd → maintain → innocence
His final words were: 'Let's get it.'
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's → let → it
Convulsions, vomiting and a lethal injection gone wrong
John Marion Grant, was sentenced to die on October 28, 2021 by lethal injection for the 1998 killing of prison worker Gay Carter in the kitchen of the Dick Conner Correctional Facility.
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Grant → go → Facility
At the time of the murder, Grant was already serving what amounted to a life sentence for armed robbery.
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what → serve → robbery
…and 88 more, not listed.
The Aporia
