Death Row Murderer Suffered ‘Excruciating’ Death After Making Last Meal ‘Mistake’

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Wesley, 68, from the US, was sentenced to death in 2004 for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in 1998.The killer lured Jennifer Long outside a supermarket into his pickup truck where he not only assaulted the young girl but also shot her dead.

Purkey buried her in a pond in Kansas after using a chainsaw to dismember her body.Her remains were never found.

Purkey shortly before his executionCredit: Kansas Dept. of Corrections

Wesley Ira Purkey, 68, from the US, was sent to death row in 2004 for the kidnapping, rape, and murdering of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in 1998.

He beat 80-year-old polio patient Mary Bales to death after he visited her home to fit in a kitchen tap that same year.Neighbors alerted the police when they became aware of the incident, who came to the property and arrested him.

He was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to Bale’s murder.However, it was when he confessed to Long’s murder that he was given the death penalty.

The 68-year-old was put to death by a lethal injection of pentobarbital and was administered the dose at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, on 16 July 2020.The killer lured Jennifer Long into his pickup truck outside a supermarket where he defiled the young girl and shot her dead.

Wesley Ira Purkey, 68, from the US, was sent to death row in 2004 for the kidnapping, rape and murdering of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in 1998.Credit: Kansas Dept. of Corrections

In terms of his autopsy, it revealed ‘severe bilateral acute pulmonary oedema’ and ‘frothy pulmonary oedema in trachea and main stem bronchi’, meaning fluid entered his lungs which causes the feeling of drowning.

In fact, it’s been described as ‘among the most excruciating feelings known to man’.Dr Gail Van Norman said: “It is a virtual medical certainty, that most, if not all, prisoners will experience excruciating suffering, including sensations of drowning and suffocation from (the drug) pentobarbital.”

He was reportedly suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s.He requested a pecan pie for his last meal the night before his execution.

The killer lured Jennifer Long into his pickup truck outside a supermarket where he defiled the young girl and shot her dead.Credit: Kansas Dept. of Corrections

The issue was, he asked to eat it ‘later’ – not realising there wouldn’t be a later.

According to records, Purkey’s last words were: “I deeply regret the pain and suffering I caused to Jennifer’s family. I am deeply sorry.””I deeply regret the pain I caused to my daughter, who I love so very much. This sanitised murder really does not serve no purpose whatsoever.”

Long’s family were present at the execution, as her father William said: “We took care of today, what we needed to take care of. It has been a long time coming.”“He needed to take his last breath – he took my daughter’s last breath. And there’s some resolve. There is no closure, and there never will be because I won’t get my daughter back.”