Death House tour

hello my name is Larry green I'm the wardens assistant here at the southern Ohio Correctional Facility in lucasville ohio a building behind me is the death house and the blue apparatus to my right is electronic lifts use to allow those with handicaps to access this area also used to remove the deceased after an execution this is the entrance area to the death house the area immediately to my right just follow me are the two rooms used to witness the execution the first room that we're now standing is is used by the inmates witnesses and there was three persons that he or she can select to witness his or her execution the room immediately adjacent to that room that we're now in is used by the victim witnesses and there's three persons that can witness the execution on behalf of the victim also placed in this room are six media personnel that will be allowed to witness the execution as well the area that we are now about to enter is a corridor that is used for part of our execution team once an inmate arrives prior a day prior to the execution date once the inmates processed in there's a person assigned to this computer the entire time that the inmate is here to log down information about the inmate his mood swing his activities his demeanor or anyone that accesses this area it's noted on this computer and logged over to the command center so the IC can can maintain and monitor the activity that goes on in this area this is a sale that is called a holding cell it's used to place the inmate here the day prior to an execution the inmate is housed in this cell his it is the cell that will be used or he will stay here as last night the television is given to the inmate if he wants to to watch television use a radio or a holy book of his or her choice also in this cell the day of the execution there are non contact visits allowed beginning at 6:30 and ending at 8 o'clock for family members and from 8 o'clock to 8:45 a spiritual adviser and legal counsel will be able to interact with the inmate with non-contact visits the day prior to the execution the inmates allowed contact visits beginning at 4:30 in the afternoon after he served after he or she has served their special meal at 4 o'clock and those contact visits are gone are allowed to go on between 4:30 and 7 o'clock the day prior the room that I'm now standing in is our control room the lethal injection drugs are brought into this room and placed here until it is time for the execution and at that time the drugs are dispensed from this room to the inmate this room is the actual execution chamber is where the lethal injection bed as you can see is located the inmate will leave the holding cell approximately 17 steps from the holding cell to this location for the inmate if he or she is compliant the execution team will allow them to get on the bed on their own once they're on the bed the inmate will be strapped in by the execution team and secured and at that time additional staff will come in and place the tubes from the control room to the heparin locks that are placed on the left and right arm of the inmate once all of that has occurred the warden will approach the inmate with the microphone and actually in many if there was a last statement that he or she would like to make at the conclusion of that the warden will give the signal for the execution process to begin once the warden signals for the execution process to begin there are three drugs that are inserted into the inmates arm through the tubes the first drug is sodium pentathol which is a drug that causes the inmate to go to sleep the second drug that is inserted is pancuronium bromide that drug stops the breathing of the inmate and the third and last drug that is inserted is potassium chloride and that stops the heart from beating once that process is completed which takes approximately six minutes the curtains are closed and a physician enters the room and examines the inmates vital signs to see if the inmate is deceased and once that is done the physician pronounces them dead and the curtains open and the warden pronounces the time of death to the media witnesses and inmate witness and victim witnesses and that concludes the process of an execution at that time those folks are escorted from those areas and taken back into the main area of the prison and the body is taken to a local funeral home in this area until arrangements are made for the family to accept responsibility or if the family is not willing to accept responsibility of the body then we as a state agency will assume responsibility and take care of the burial expenses

Channel: The Chronicle Telegram

Views: 239,231

Keywords: ohio, death, house, execution, debate, tour, lethal, injection, burge, lorain, county

Id: qSouYdGo7-g

Length: 6min 18sec (378 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 08 2008