How Arizona, Ohio, Oklahoma, executions went awry

Arizona Republic justice reporter Michael Kiefer describes what he saw as a witness to the execution of Joseph Rudolph Wood, which took more than an hour and a half at the state prison on Wednesday, July 23, 2014, in Florence, Ariz. Wood was convicted in the 1989 shooting deaths of Debbie Dietz, 29, and Gene Dietz, 55, at an auto repair shop in Tucson. (AP Photo) Arizona Republic justice reporter Michael Kiefer describes what he saw as a witness to the execution of Joseph Rudolph Wood, which took more than an hour and a half at the state prison on Wednesday, July 23, 2014, in Florence, Ariz. Wood was convicted in the 1989 shooting deaths of Debbie Dietz, 29, and Gene Dietz, 55, at an auto repair shop in Tucson. (AP Photo)

By Associated Press July 24, 2014 5 min read

Since the start of the year, executions in Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona have gone awry, with inmates gasping for breath as lethal drugs coursed through their bodies. The Associated Press had witnesses at the executions of the three inmates. A look at how each unfolded:

THE BACKSTORY:

ARIZONA: Joseph Rudolph Wood was convicted of fatally shooting Debbie Dietz, 29, and her father, Gene Dietz, 55, at their auto repair shop in Tucson in 1989. He was executed on Wednesday.

OKLAHOMA: Clayton Lockett was convicted of shooting Stephanie Nieman, 19, with a sawed-off shotgun and watching as two accomplices buried her alive in 1999. He was executed on April 29.

OHIO: Dennis McGuire was sentenced to die for raping and stabbing to death Joy Stewart, a pregnant newlywed, in 1989. He was executed on Jan. 16.