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Malicoat Execution

September 1, 2006

Death came quickly

Jason Clarke

McALESTER — He was dead before they executed him.

James Patrick Malicoat was the second person to be executed with the State of Oklahoma’s modified method of execution aimed at being more “humane.”

The practice calls for the inmate to receive a extra dosage of anesthesia, sodium thiopental, in each arm prior the start of the procedure.

The State then waits one minute before administering the rest of the lethal cocktail of drugs, vecuronium bromide to stop respiration and potassium chloride to stop the heart.

In Malicoat’s execution, however, his face was grey and his lips blue before the minute could expire.

“He was dead within a few seconds,” said District Attorney Bret Burns, “which is more that I can say for his victim.”

Thirteen-month-old Tessa Leadford was tortured over a period of 19 days before her death, according to Burns.

The change in the execution process came after the early August testimony of a University of Massachusetts professor in a separate case. Dr. Mark Dershwitz claimed the change would reduce the chance the inmate would wake up before the two remaining drugs stopped the body’s functions.

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Malicoat Execution