Witnesses detail final moments of death row inmate who admitted his execution was 'long overdue'
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Arizona Department of Corrections
Witness have recalled Aaron Gunches' final moments before his execution yesterday.
On Wednesday (March 19), Gunches was executed in the state of Arizona yesterday having received the death penalty back in 2008 for the murder of Ted Price, who died in 2002.
It's said that Price had got into an argument with Gunches' then-girlfriend, whom he had previously dated. Following the dispute, Gunches was supposed to drive Price to the bus station, but proceeded to drive him to the desert and shot him four times.
Advert
It wasn't until 2003 that Gunches was arrested, however. He was apprehended after shooting an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper who had pulled him over.
The officer survived the ordeal, with his bulletproof vest being his saving grace, and Gunches went on to plead guilty for kidnapping and killing Price.
Nearly 30 years on from being handed the death penalty, the 53-year-old, who submitted a handwritten motion to the state of Arizona to 'have his long overdue sentence carried out', died by lethal injection, and following his death, witnesses at the execution have since shared what they saw.
Troy Hayden of 12News KPNX, who was present, said that there 'wasn’t wincing or anything like that'. John Barcello, deputy director of Arizona’s Department of Corrections, also spoke to news outlets after Gunches' death.
"By all accounts, the process went according to plan without any incident at all," he said, as per 21Alive.
Dale Baich, a former federal public defender who teaches death penalty law at Arizona State University, was there for the execution as well, and while it was made out to be a somewhat 'peaceful', Biach says it wasn't.
"The eight deep breaths and chest heaving, the gurgling sounds, and Mr. Gunches trying to catch his breath, are all signs of pulmonary edema," he shared. "Even though it may have looked peaceful, it was not."
Pulmonary edema occurs when a person has a build up of fluid in their lungs, says Cleveland Clinic. Refuting Biach's claims, however, Michael Kiefer of the Arizona Mirror, called it the 'smoothest execution' he'd ever seen (via The Mirror US).
As well as press and state officials, Price's sister, Katie, was there for Gunches' execution.
"Although we’ve taken the final step in the legal process, the pain of losing Ted remains profound," she said after her brother's killer was put to death, The Independent reports.
"I genuinely hope that after today we can finally begin to put this chapter behind us."
Elsewhere, Price's mother, Phyllis Price Tueller, didn't want Gunches put to death. Gunches marks the second of four executions taking place across America this week.
Jessie Hoffman was executed on Tuesday, and Wendell Grissom and Edward Thomas James are scheduled to be executed today (March 20).