Ron McAndrew, a for­mer war­den who over­saw exe­cu­tions on Florida​’s death row, recent­ly tes­ti­fied at a New Hampshire hear­ing regard­ing the trau­ma prison staff endure dur­ing an exe­cu­tion. McAndrew said, ​“Many col­leagues turned to drugs and alco­hol from the pain of know­ing a man had died at their hands. And I’ve been haunt­ed by the men I was asked to exe­cute in the name of the state of Florida.” The New Hampshire hear­ing was con­duct­ed by a leg­isla­tive com­mis­sion study­ing the effec­tive­ness of the state’s death penal­ty and com­par­ing it with a sen­tence of life with­out parole. McAndrew said he has received calls from dis­tressed prison work­ers and exe­cu­tion­ers. Some cor­rec­tions offi­cers, he said, have com­mit­ted sui­cide because of their guilt and regret. McAndrew con­clud­ed, ​“Being a cor­rec­tions offi­cer is sup­posed to be an hon­or­able pro­fes­sion. The state dis­hon­ors us by putting us in this sit­u­a­tion. This is pre­med­i­tat­ed, care­ful­ly thought out ceremonial killing.”

Additional tes­ti­mo­ny at the New Hampshire hear­ing came from Laura Bonk, whose moth­er was mur­dered in Massachusetts in 1989. Bonk said that her fam­i­ly would have suf­fered more had the death penal­ty been sought. She said, ​“There is a false belief that death brings clo­sure. It does not. It does not bring the vic­tim back. It does not solve any­thing.” Bonk also told the com­mis­sion, ​“My moth­er had a clear and strong moral code that guid­ed her life. She opposed the death penal­ty, and I ask you to repeal it. It would hon­or me and, most impor­tant­ly, my mother.”

(A. Timmins, ​“Former war­den ​‘haunt­ed’ by exe­cu­tions, death penal­ty scars prison staff, he says,” The Concord Monitor, August 13, 2010; pho­to, Tallahassee Citizens Against the Death Penalty). Read more New Voices. See Victims.

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