The 21st Show

Witnessing Executions

Produced by Brian Mackey
 
This March 22, 1995, file photo shows the interior of the execution chamber in the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. Executioners who put 13 inmates to death in the last months of the Trump administration likened the process of dying by lethal injection to falling asleep, called gurneys “beds” and final breaths “snores.” But those tranquil accounts are at odds with AP and other media-witness reports of how prisoners’ stomachs rolled, shook and shuddered as the pentobarbital took effect inside the U.S. penitentiary death chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana.

This March 22, 1995, file photo shows the interior of the execution chamber in the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. Executioners who put 13 inmates to death in the last months of the Trump administration likened the process of dying by lethal injection to falling asleep, called gurneys “beds” and final breaths “snores.” But those tranquil accounts are at odds with AP and other media-witness reports of how prisoners’ stomachs rolled, shook and shuddered as the pentobarbital took effect inside the U.S. penitentiary death chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana. AP Photo/Chuck Robinson, File

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Last summer, the administration of then-President Donald Trump resumed executing federal prisoners, and ultimately put 13 men and women to death. The push meant the U.S. government executed more people in six months than the previous half-century combined.

Federal executions all take place at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana — just over the Illinois border, about 60 miles southeast of Champaign, or a three-hour drive from Chicago. The Associated Press witnessed all 13 of those executions — 10 by Chicago-based legal affairs reporter Michael Tarm — and a recent report details how the accounts of government officials differ from what the media observed.

Guest:

Michael Tarm, AP Legal Affairs Writer (based in Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, Chicago)

 

Prepared for web by Zainab Qureshi

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