Slow Death in U.S. Gas Chambers

On June 15, 1994, dramatic events unfolded during the execution of capital punishment. David Lawson, sentenced to death for a capital felony, was scheduled to be killed by hydrogen cyanide in the gas chamber located in the state prison of Raleigh, North Carolina—but the prisoner refused to assist his executioners.1 Lawson repeatedly held his breath for as long as possible and took only short breaths in between.2 Lawson exhibited enormous willpower, calling out to both executioners and witnesses throughout his execution  

A detailed description of this execution can be found at Bill Krueger, Lawson s Final Moments , The News Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, June 19, 1994, p. Al. 

At first his cry was clearly audible but as the minutes went by he became less and less understandable and finally, more than ten minutes into the execution, there was just a mutter. He was declared dead only after eighteen minutes. The witnesses to the execution were horrified. The warden of the prison who had also supervised the execution was so shaken that he resigned. Because of this execution fiasco, executions with poison gas have been abandoned for a short period of time in the USA and replaced with lethal injections. 

3 Bettina Freitag, Henker warten nicht , New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, March 13-19, 1999, p. 3. 

4 The News Observer, Raleigh (NC), June 11, 1994, p. 14A (according to the prison warden, normally 10-14 min.). 

---