Orlando man on death row executed for 1985 murders
Baku, October 30 AZERTAC
Though it took 30 years for Jerry Correll to receive his death sentence, the process to kill him took 10 minutes.
According to Orlando Sentinel site, Correll, one of Orange County's most notorious killers, was pronounced dead at 7:36 p.m. Thursday at Florida State Prison after receiving a lethal injection that included the controversial sedative midazolam.
About two dozen witnesses watched as the 59-year-old Orlando man lay on a gurney covered with a white sheet from the neck down, his hands covered in bandages, his wrists strapped down and IVs in his arms.
When the curtain surrounding him rose, Correll looked to his right and mouthed the words, "Thank you," to a man wearing a cross in the front row. Asked whether he wanted to say any last words, Correll responded to the leader of the execution team, "No, sir."
Correll had been on death row for three decades after stabbing to death his ex-wife, Susan; their 5-year-old daughter, Tuesday; and Susan's mother and sister in 1985. Police and prosecutors described the murders at the Conway-area home as among the most bloody and gory they had ever seen.
The victims' family members released a statement saying they were "at peace in knowing justice had finally been served."
The execution was a long time coming for family members.
The execution was the first in the nation since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that allowed the use of midazolam, a sedative that is part of the three-drug protocol used in Florida executions.
A group of Oklahoma death-row inmates said the drug was ineffective in adequately making inmates unconscious, pointing to botched executions in which inmates showed signs they were suffering pain by gasping and clenching their fists.
Two other executions in the nation are scheduled this year, in Texas and Missouri, and four next year, according to the nonprofit DPIC.
States such as Ohio have stayed all executions because they are having trouble obtaining the necessary drugs.
DPIC Executive Director Robert Dunham said using midazolam is risky.
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