Entries tagged with “Dr. Mark Edgar

Methods of Execution

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Sep 17, 2025

Autopsy Points to Reason Behind Byron Black’s Painful Execution in Tennessee

Byron Black was exe­cut­ed in Tennessee by lethal injec­tion on August 5, 2025. During his exe­cu­tion, Mr. Black unex­pect­ed­ly and repeat­ed­ly groaned over the course of sev­er­al min­utes and audi­bly told his spir­i­tu­al advi­sor that he was in pain. An autop­sy released September 10, 2025, pro­vides some expla­na­tion. It found evi­dence of​“pul­monary con­ges­tion and ede­ma”– defined as an abnor­mal buildup of flu­id in the lungs which can pro­duce sen­sa­tions of​“doom,…

Executions

Executions Overview

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Botched Executions

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Aug 16, 2022

Private Autopsy Documents Carnage’ Experienced by Alabama Death-Row Prisoner Joe Nathan James During Longest Botched Lethal-Injection Execution in History

A pri­vate autop­sy of Alabama death-row pris­on­er Joe Nathan James, Jr. sug­gests that unqual­i­fied cor­rec­tions per­son­nel sub­ject­ed him to a tor­tur­ous, hours-long exe­cu­tion process in a botched exe­cu­tion that experts say was the longest since the advent of lethal injection…

Executions

Methods of Execution

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Sep 25, 2020

NPR Investigation of Lethal-Injection Autopsies Finds Executed Prisoners Experience Sensations of Suffocation and Drowning

A new National Public Radio (NPR) analy­sis of more than 200 autop­sies of death-row pris­on­ers exe­cut­ed by lethal injec­tion has found that 84% of those exe­cut­ed showed evi­dence of pul­monary ede­ma, a con­di­tion in which a person’s lungs fill with flu­id that cre­ates the feel­ing of suf­fo­ca­tion or drown­ing that experts have likened to…