Nashville, Tennessee (AP) – At least two people involved in the Tennessee massacre, which was abruptly halted last month, knew the night before that the deadly injecting drugs the state plans to use have not passed some mandatory tests, newly released records show.
Citing a “pass”, Gov. Bill Lee had canceled the execution of 72-year-old Oscar Smith just an hour before the planned deadly injection on April 21 over Smith’s sentencing for the 1989 murders of his expropriated wife and two teenage sons. The governor’s office later revealed that the drugs had not been tested for endotoxins.
The Republican governor’s administration declined to release much information, saying the problem was “technical.” Instead, Lee recently appointed a former U.S. prosecutor to lead an independent investigation and also paused four other executions scheduled for this year.
On April 21, there were no indications that the deadly injection would not take place until about an hour earlier, when the governor’s office issued a press release canceling it. Just before learning of his deferment, Smith received communion from his spiritual counselor, who will be admitted to the execution chamber. He had eaten last, and media witnesses and family relatives had gathered and waited. The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected Smith’s last-minute stay.
On Friday, the Adjustments Department released 20 pages of heavily edited emails and text messages to the Associated Press requesting public recordings.
In them, experts say no research has been done on so-called endotoxins, which usually come from bacteria. Such a study is considered vital as it may be an indication of drug production problems. However, the endotoxins themselves are unlikely to create a performance problem, as endotoxins are not usually immediately fatal, according to Frank Romanelli, a professor of pharmacy at the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy.
The Corrections Department declined to answer questions when the state knew that the drugs for execution had not been properly tested.
“As you know, the governor has announced an independent review of these issues, which we fully support. We are unable to offer additional information until the review is completed, “spokeswoman Dorinda Carter said in a statement.
Tennessee implementation protocols require all combination drugs to be independently tested for efficacy, sterility, and endotoxins. It was not known from the records provided whether the other test had been performed.
At a news conference last week announcing the independent investigation, Lee said the problem with the tests was noticed shortly before the execution. The records provided to the AP suggest that some people knew almost the day before.
Almost all names, email addresses, telephone numbers and any other identifying information were removed from the records. Even the name of the governor’s communications team, which is regularly circulated to the media and the public, has been removed. According to the chief legal adviser of the correctional agency, the state has edited the names of those who were or may in the future be directly involved in the execution process.
Tennessee used a series of three drugs to kill the prisoners: midazolam, a sedative that knocked the prisoner unconscious; vecuronium bromide, to paralyze the prisoner; and potassium chloride to stop the heart.
The recordings did contain an exchange of text messages between two unidentified individuals whose names were obscured in the recordings the night before Smith’s planned execution, which began at about 8 p.m.
The Adjustments Department edits the response, but when the same person requests the results of the endotoxin test, the individual’s response states that it is “not required” based on the amount they do.
“I’m sorry I didn’t test it,” the text reads.
“This has been done to the previous ones,” the stock exchange said.
Later that morning, a separate text message asked if it would be possible to test for endotoxins on the day of the execution.
“I honestly doubt it,” the response said.
Tennessee and many other states have passed exceptions to open record laws in recent years, secretly hiding the identities of drug suppliers and other information about executions.
“Failure to ensure that lethal injecting chemicals are manufactured in accordance with … standards is embarrassing,” Smith’s lawyer Kelly Henry said in an e-mail statement. “Complex high-risk sterile injectables, such as those used in the Tennessee lethal injection protocol, are extremely risky.
Smith was sentenced to death for fatally stabbing and shooting his estranged wife, Judith Smith, and her sons, Jason and Chad Burnett, at their home in Nashville on October 1, 1989. Tennessee planned five executions this year, including Smith’s. She was trying to resume her rapid, pre-pandemic pace of killing prisoners.
Smith claims innocence. Earlier, he refused to choose between the electric chair and the lethal injection, the two means of performing Tennessee, so the lethal injection became the default method. Smith’s initial implementation date in June 2020 was postponed due to the pandemic.
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Associated Press writers Jonathan Mathis and Travis Lawler of Nashville contributed to this report.
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