Death row inmate suffered “excruciating” death after last meal “mistake”

In 2020, a death row inmate experienced a painful execution just hours after making a “mistake” regarding his final meal request.

Wesley Ira Purkey, aged 68, was sentenced to death for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 16-year-old schoolgirl Jennifer Long in 1998.

Disturbing reports revealed how Purkey enticed his victim into his pickup truck outside a supermarket, with the girl last seen taking skipping lessons on January 22.

He then drove Long to his home, where he raped and ultimately stabbed her to death. To conceal his crime, he dismembered her body using a chainsaw, burned her remains, and smashed and scattered her bones in a septic pond to evade capture.

Later in 1998, while working as a plumber, Purkey brutally killed 80-year-old Mary Bales with a claw hammer. After returning to her home to ignite a fire intended to destroy evidence, he was spotted by Bales’ neighbors, who became suspicious and alerted the authorities.

Purkey was ultimately apprehended and confessed to the murder of Bales. However, after receiving a life sentence in state prison, he voluntarily disclosed details about the murder of Long in hopes of serving his time in federal prison instead.

According to reports, Purkey failed to secure any agreement regarding the type of sentence the prosecution would seek for his kidnapping, raping, and murdering of the teenage Long.

In the end, he was found guilty of the crime and sentenced to death.

Purkey was executed in 2020 through a lethal injection of pentobarbital.

His autopsy showed that he had ‘severe bilateral acute pulmonary oedema’ and ‘frothy pulmonary oedema in the trachea and main stem bronchi’, indicating that fluid rapidly filled his lungs and trachea.

In an interview with News.com.au, Dr. Gail Van Norman stated: “It is virtually certain that most, if not all, prisoners will endure extreme suffering, including feelings of drowning and suffocation due to [the lethal injection drug] pentobarbital.”

In his final words, expressing remorse for the murder of Jennifer Long, Purkey said: “I deeply regret the pain and suffering I caused to Jennifer’s family. I am truly sorry. I deeply regret the pain I caused to my daughter, whom I love dearly.

“This sanitized murder serves no purpose at all.”

Just before Purkey’s execution, there were concerns that he might be suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, making him unfit for execution. As reported by AP News, the inmate watched Bill Clinton on TV the night before his execution and mentioned he would vote for Clinton in the upcoming presidential election.

The convicted murderer also requested pecan pie for his last meal but asked to have it “later”, not realizing there wouldn’t be a “later”.