Execution troubles
2009-10-06 10:28
Washington - On the afternoon of Tuesday, September 15, Romell Broom sat in his Ohio prison cell hoping for a last-minute court reprieve that never came.
But in the hours that followed, the 53-year-old faced a grisly ordeal that would make him the first US prisoner in more than six decades able to tell the story of his execution.
At around 14:00, after a shower, a phone call to his brother and several cups of coffee, Broom was told his 25 years on death row would end later that day with him being executed by lethal injection.
Lucasville prison warden Phillip Kerns read the death sentence and a short time later two nurses began to administer three chemicals: one an anesthetic, one to paralyse his muscles and another to stop his heart.
It was his punishment for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl, a charge he has denied.
"There were three guards present in the room. One guard was on the right side of me, one was on the left side of me and one was at my feet," he said, according to written testimony made three days after the ordeal.
"The nurses were simultaneously trying to access veins in my arms. The female nurse tried three separate times to access veins in the middle of my left arm. The male nurse tried three separate times to access veins... in the middle of my right arm."
After struggling to find a vein, a break of two minutes 30 seconds was called.
'I was in a great deal of pain'
"After the break, the female nurse tried twice to access veins in my left arm. She must have hit a muscle because the pain made me scream out loud," Broom said.
"The first time the male nurse successfully accessed a vein in my right arm. He attempted to insert the IV, but he lost it and blood started to run down my arm."
The female nurse then left the room. "The correction officer asked her if she was okay. She responded 'no' and walked out," Broom recalled.
Then came a second pause and the weight of events began to show on everyone.
"The correction officer on my right patted me on my right shoulder and told me to relax while we take a break.
"At this point, I was in a great deal of pain. The puncture wounds hurt and made it difficult to stretch or move my arms."
The male nurse began to massage Broom's left arm and apply hot towels to make a vein easier to find.
Bloom became angered by accusations from the nurse that his heroin use had made a vein difficult to find.
'I had been poked at least 18 times'
"I was upset with this comment because I have never used heroin or any intravenous drugs.
"I tried to assist them by helping to tie my own arm." But it was unsuccessful and a third break was called.
"At that point I became very upset. I began to cry because I was in pain and my arms were swelling. The nurses were placing needles in areas that were already bruised and swollen.
"I requested that they stop the process, and I requested to speak with my attorney."
A third nurse then tried to access veins in Bloom's right ankle. The needle, according to Bloom, hit the bone and he screamed.
Then "at the same time the head nurse was attempting to access a vein in the lower part of my left leg, the male nurse was simultaneously attempting to access a vein in my left ankle".
Two more attempts were made to find veins in Bloom's right hand.
"I had been poked at least 18 times in multiple areas all in an attempt to give me the drugs that would take my life."
After another half hour pause Bloom's lawyer said Governor Ted Strickland has issued a one week reprieve.
Bloom has said he now fears he will be subjected to the same "torture" when the execution resumes.
The state governor has called for an investigation into a back-up or alternative way for implementing the death penalty.