Ohio Executes Overweight Inmate

By Jeralyn, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 11:12:55 AM EST
Tags: lethal injection (all tags)

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Richard Cooey was executed today in Ohio. He weighed almost 300 pounds. One of his grounds for appeal was that his weight would make it difficult for the the executioners to find his veins.

Most of the news reports I've read contain details of his last meal and last words:

You (expletive) haven't paid any attention to anything I've said in the last 22 years, why would you pay any attention to anything I said now?" Cooey said with his final words

Reporter Eric Mansfield, one of the media witnesses to the execution, reports an additional detail: [More...]

Cooey climbed onto the execution table without protest. Mansfield says Cooey did yell when the shunts were being placed in his arms and asked for his attorney, but the request was denied.

The execution took 12 minutes.

More details from witnesses:

He was on his back on a gurney, with his feet crossed, as intravenous tubes were inserted into his arms. He yelled out for his lawyer during the process.

"I want to talk to Greg Myers," he shouted. He lifted his head and yelled, "Hey, Myers." But his lawyer was in the witness room and unable to speak with him.

At 10:15, Cooey kicked his legs up and left the gurney, then walked on his own into the death chamber to climb onto another gurney. The warden and one guard stood at Cooey's head while the drugs were injected.

At 10:20, Cooey was strumming his fingers, pinky to index fingers, waiting. He exhaled heavily at 10:21, and the warden shook Cooey's shoulder to see if the sleep drug had taken effect. Cooey did not respond.

At 10:27 a.m., the guard drew a curtain around Cooey. McCreery's mother, Mary Ann Hackenburg, threw her head back and exhaled into the air. At 10:29, the curtain was drawn back, and the time of death was announced.

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Ohio Executes Overweight Inmate | 31 comments (31 topical)

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I oppose the death penalty only because (5.00 / 4) (#7)
by ding7777 on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:05:30 PM EST

too many times, the Government has executed the wrong person, either through corruption, ambition, and/or human error.

Having said that, I have absolutely no sympathy for Cooey.

If the loved ones of his victims... (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by kdog on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:12:22 PM EST

took his life I wouldn't bat an eye...I just can't stomach the state killing people.

Times like this I advocate for street justice.

Yup... (5.00 / 1) (#12)
by oldpro on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:23:38 PM EST

that's how I ... feel, even knowing that street justice is seldom justice -- only mindless revenge. But hey...understandable, no?

The Innocence Project alone is reason enough to abhor the coldblooded execution of any accused by the state.


I don't know if I quite agree (none / 0) (#10)
by eric on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:19:05 PM EST

with you, but at least the loved one's actions would be understandable. The state has the benefit of not having personal emotions involved. And it is capable of fully incapacitating someone in prison without killing them.


Don't get me wrong... (5.00 / 1) (#15)
by kdog on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:28:24 PM EST

in a perfect world we could all turn the other cheek and forgive even the most brutal and sadictic of acts, to the benefit of nothing but our own souls.

That being said, if a loved one of mine was brutally murdered or raped...I tend to think I'd kill the sob. But you never really know until it happens, sun god forbid.


I understand people wanting him dead (none / 0) (#20)
by ruffian on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:43:00 PM EST

No one is asking anyone to forgive him, or make excuses for him. But no one has the right to kill him either.


: I don't know ruffian.... (1.00 / 1) (#22)
by kdog on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 01:01:04 PM EST

If it the crime went down as the descriptions in the comments here indicate, I think the loved ones of his victims do have the right to kill the bastard...but no one else. Not a codified right of course, but a natural one. Street justice and street rights.
And if they did get street justice, they should have to face trial and take their chances with a jury...though I doubt the state could find one to convict.
Is it perfect? Hell no...but I say it beats state-sanctioned murder if the victims loved ones need justice beyond lwop, which should be the max the state can provide.

There is no answer Don.... (none / 0) (#40)
by kdog on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 07:50:59 PM EST

didn't mean to imply there was one...the most brutal crimes raise questions with no answers.

My only point is some people do deserve to die, and the state should not kill. So whatta ya do?


I think that we, as a state (5.00 / 4) (#9)
by eric on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:14:40 PM EST

should be better than this guy. To me, that means not killing him, no matter what his crimes. Opposing the death penalty in this case has nothing to do with sympathy for the killer or failing to recognize the victims. It is opposing state sanctioned murder.

You're right, death penalty opponents don't score many points opposing this particular person's execution. The fact that I still do oppose it, even in this terrible case, helps me know that my convictions are genuine and not conditional.

If it is (5.00 / 2) (#16)
by eric on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:29:02 PM EST

incapacitation that you are after, then there is no question Cooey could have been locked up securely for life.

Fair point, unfortunately, (none / 0) (#19)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:41:14 PM EST

while I'm sure we could, we in fact do not lock up murderers securely for life.

Convicted murderers get released and too often murder again.

Convicted murderers have escaped and murdered again.

Convicted murderers have killed fellow inmates, guards and other prison personnel.


This then is where our efforts can be (5.00 / 1) (#28)
by Montague on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 02:39:06 PM EST

spent. On changing laws to make life without parole really happen. To stop filling prisons with nonviolent offenders like marijuana possessors. To make prisons more secure.


Done deal. (none / 0) (#29)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 02:52:24 PM EST

Absolutely 100% secure LWOP systems would be the right thing to do.

What do we do about the convicted murderers who are released after serving their time and then murder again? No parole ever for convicted murderers?


Not that simple (none / 0) (#30)
by Montague on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 03:17:05 PM EST

There are different degrees of murder, and different degrees of danger posed to society. Where I live, a 60-year-old woman in the midst of an ugly divorce from her husband (similar age but having an affair with a younger women) stuck a kitchen knife in his chest during an altercation. That was a heat-of-the-moment thing and I think she really had no intention of killing him, just of harming him. He died on the operating table. She served many years in jail. I don't believe she is a danger to society and need not spend her entire life in jail.

This, of course, is something for our society to decide and to implement via our system of justice.


: Fair enough, there are different degrees (none / 0) (#38)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:10:17 PM EST

of murder, and they should be dealt with differently.

Where I live (none / 0) (#33)
by eric on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 03:52:00 PM EST

its mandatory life (no parole) for all first degree murders. No questions asked. You get one automatic appeal whether you want it or not, then it's all over.


Well (none / 0) (#34)
by eric on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 03:54:11 PM EST

seeing how we are talking about a substitute for capital punishment, yes, anyone who would otherwise get executed would get life without parole.

The other people who might be less culpable, wouldn't be candidates for execution, anyway.


: Sounds good to me, (none / 0) (#36)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 04:42:51 PM EST

let's get 100% secure LWOP systems set up.

State sponsored murder: (5.00 / 2) (#21)
by pluege on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:59:25 PM EST

a) is as much about the executioner as it is the executed. There are plenty of people, both caught and uncaught that are heinous enough that they deserve to be dead, but no human, no group of humans has the right to play God and take a life - period, no exceptions. Killing for non-survival purposes is not an inalienable right, its an abomination and heinous act unto itself, regardless of purpose.

b) there is no, and can never be any evidence ever anywhere that state sponsored murder works as a deterrent (show me the person that says that they would have murdered in cold blood except for the threat of execution and I'll show you a liar). State sponsored murder is 100% about revenge and sadism.

Death penalty is impractical (5.00 / 1) (#24)
by coigue on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 01:52:45 PM EST

and hard on victim and society.

I am anti-death penalty, but I cry no tears for this horrid ma.

I have zero sympathy for Cooey (5.00 / 1) (#27)
by Montague on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 02:31:09 PM EST

I feel deeply horrified at what his victims suffered, and what the loved ones of his victims still continue to go through. If we talk of what he deserves, then IMO he deserves to die in a way similar to what he put his victims through. And yet society cannot take that role or we become ugly, too. Not as ugly as Cooey, but still ugly.

I do not believe any death row inmate should be excused from the punishment because he/she "found God," is too fat, has repented, etc., etc. Instead, I believe there should be no death penalty, but just life without parole.

Sick (none / 0) (#1)
by eric on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 11:28:13 AM EST

just sick. Yet I read it because it is like gawking at a car wreck.

I suppose we have to keep reading about this because it helps many of us realize what we are so much against. Still, I feel sick.

: Never fails.... (none / 0) (#4)
by kdog on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 11:50:44 AM EST

to give me the creeps, I hear that. "We the people" sticking poison needles in human beings arms...sick is right.
It's weird and difficult to expolain...I can deal with and understand a person killing a person, as sick as that is...but I just can't deal with a faceless collective killing a person.

The trial and conviction... (none / 0) (#6)
by prose on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:03:12 PM EST

is the time for recognizing the crimes and the victims. Murdering the criminal is a time for being appalled at a system that is as unjust and cruel as the folks it tries to punish.

So, what's the answer? (none / 0) (#11)
by NYShooter on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:22:03 PM EST

Abortion proponents premise their "pro choice" position by stating "we have to do all we can to reduce the need for abortions, but until then......."

State induced death advocates (I guess ) feel it's o.k. kill convicted persons, as long as we try to reduce the number of innocents killed along the way.

False comparison. (5.00 / 3) (#14)
by oldpro on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:26:13 PM EST

You may not equate what I decide to do with my body to what the state decides to do with yours.


Exactly (5.00 / 2) (#17)
by eric on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:32:55 PM EST

it isn't a good comparison, at all, for a lot of reasons, not the least of which are the rights of the mother. Furthermore, abortion involves an action by a person. Execution involves an action by the state. If the state were going around ordering abortions, I would not agree with that, either.


It's not (none / 0) (#31)
by NYShooter on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 03:17:07 PM EST

YOUR body that dies.


: Actually, it sometimes is. (none / 0) (#39)
by oldpro on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 07:28:04 PM EST

Best last words ever (none / 0) (#18)
by ruffian on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 12:40:29 PM EST

RIP Mr. Cooey. No one had the right to kill you, no matter what you did.

Yes, that is true (none / 0) (#26)
by Montague on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 02:23:36 PM EST

I don't object to Cooey being dead. I believe he doesn't deserve to live after doing something like that.

HOWEVER, my reasons for being against the death penalty are four-fold:

Might kill an innocent person.
Death penalty is disproportionately applied to racial minorities.
Death penalty is not shown to deter murderers.

And my top reason:

4. Allowing society to put someone to death makes us all ugly.

Nowhere in my reasons do I mention sanctity of life or rehabilitation or anything like that. There are indeed people who do not deserve to live. And yet who am I to make that judgement? Who are you? Who is society? We should not take that role.

Life imprisonment without parole is a pretty severe punishment.