Serial killer lives

No vein found: Execution failed

Thomas Eugene C. was not executed.(Bild: KameraOne)

In the US state of Idaho, an execution has been aborted because medical staff were unable to find a suitable vein for the lethal injection in the condemned convict. 

"Some are calling today's events a failure, but the opposite is true," wrote Josh Tewalt of the Idaho Department of Correction.

"The process to prevent failure worked, and I think that's an important distinction," he said. The man sentenced to death was a 73-year-old serial killer.

Death sentences in the USA

Last year, 24 death sentences were carried out in the USA. More than 2,300 criminals sentenced to death are currently on death row, some of them for decades.

Criminal executed by lethal injection
According to media reports, a criminal was also executed by lethal injection in the state of Texas on Wednesday. The 50-year-old was sentenced to death in 2000 for the murder of his cousin and his cousin's fiancée, but maintained his innocence to the end, as reported by US broadcaster CNN.

Cruel method, agonizing death
Executions of criminals sentenced to death in the USA repeatedly cause a stir. In January, a death row inmate was executed for the first time using a new nitrogen method. During the procedure, nitrogen is injected via a face mask, resulting in death from lack of oxygen. Human rights experts denounced this as cruel, as the method is untested and could result in an agonizing death.