Death Row Inmate Suffered ‘Excruciating’ Death After Making Last Meal ‘Mistake’
ArchiveFirst published June 16, 2024. It may not reflect later developments.
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.”
