Wesley Ira Purkey, 68, was executed in 2020 for the 1998 kidnapping, r***, and murder of 16-year-old Jennifer Long. He lured her into his truck, assaulted her, and dismembered her body, which remains missing. He also killed 80-year-old Mary Bales with a hammer in 1998, leading to a life sentence before his death penalty for Long’s murder.

Purkey suffered an “excruciating” death by lethal injection of pentobarbital, causing severe pulmonary edema. This led to a sensation described by medical experts as “one of the most excruciating feelings known to man.” Dr. Gail Van Norman stated, “It is a virtual medical certainty, that most, if not all, prisoners will experience excruciating suffering…”

In his final words, Purkey expressed remorse: “I deeply regret the pain and suffering I caused to Jennifer’s family… This sanitised murder really does not serve no purpose whatsoever.” Jennifer’s father, William, said, “He needed to take his last breath – he took my daughter’s last breath.”

Believed to suffer from Alzheimer’s, Purkey requested pecan pie for his last meal, asking to have it “later,” unaware there wouldn’t be a “later.”