death row workers speak out.

Botched executions, guilt, PTSD — death row workers speak out


After the US hit the grim milestone of 200 prisoners exonerated since the reinstatement of capital punishment, employees who experienced the ‘broken’ system are calling for change

Over the past 50 years, more than 1,500 people have been executed in the US, with each execution carefully orchestrated by a team of prison employees and volunteers

Over the past 50 years, more than 1,500 people have been executed in the US, with each execution carefully orchestrated by a team of prison employees and volunteers

Samuel Lovett

Thursday July 11 2024, 3.25pm BST, The Times

There are many things that Ron McAndrew has tried to forget from his years working on death row.


The electrocutions were the worst: the vice-like face mask that kept the inmate’s head in place, tightened with so much force that it would break the nose. The violent surge of electricity that flowed through the condemned’s body. The uncontrolled heaving of the chest. Then, silence.


But it is the botched execution of Pedro Medina in March 1997 that refuses to fade from his memory.


“We burnt him to death,” says McAndrew, 85, a former warden of Florida State Prison. “There was a sudden large flame that came right up in my face and then Pedro’s head was literally on fire … There was no way I

Thanks for reading.


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