Roe was the second Ohio inmate executed since questions were raised over the constitutionality of the drugs used in Ohio’s lethal injection protocol.
Ohio’s lethal injection protocol includes a paralyzing agent, pancuronium bromide, that could leave the inmate conscious before death, but cast a chemical veil over the excruciatingly painful effects of death by suffocation and heart attack.
John Glenn Roe, who maintained his innocence in the shooting death of 20-yearold Donette Crawford, was executed on Feb 3rd.
The disturbing execution of his friend Lewis Williams Jr. left Columbus killer John Glenn Roe wondering before his execution: How will I die? "I’m feeling nervous, scared, anxious," Roe said during an interview on Death Row at the Mansfield Correctional Institution.
"I definitely ain’t ready for it. I don’t think Lew Williams was ready for it. I don’t think you ever can get ready for something like that."
But the younger sister of Donette Crawford, the Columbus woman Roe abducted and murdered on Oct. 6, 1984, said she’s glad Roe is afraid.
"I think he should be nervous and he should be scared," Michelle Crawford of Columbus said. "My sister was scared to death and he didn’t care."
Crawford plans to witness Roe’s execution.
"He laughed about it. It was all a joke. Now he’s not laughing too much, is he?" Crawford said.
"I totally believe once he’s gone, I can put her to rest and I can go on."
Roe, 41, would be the first person from Franklin County to be executed in nearly 41 years.
Williams, 45, who became friends with Roe on Death Row, struggled with his executioners, pleaded with God and cried as he was put to death at the Lucasville prison. He was the ninth Ohioan executed since 1999 but the first to
resist.
Roe and Williams were teamed in a lawsuit filed by the Ohio Public Defender challenging one of the lethal drugs used as cruel and unusual punishment.
Roe said he feared what the muscle-paralyzing drug Pavulon will do to him.
"Lewis read that it was like you were in a tomb or a coma and suffocated," he said. "Suffocation has always been my biggest fear."
Roe denied killing Crawford, saying he was breaking into a video-game store on the East Side at the time the 20-year-old woman was abducted from a West Side convenience store and killed.
"I’m a real person. I’m innocent. I don’t want to die like this," Roe said.
"My death won’t bring nobody back.
"A lot of people worrying about dying. I don’t know what movie it was, but they said everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. I think I can accept death, I just don’t want to accept death like this."
Veterinarians forbid using the same types of drugs for euthanizing pets, in order to avoid inflicting pain on the animals.
Judges in some states have granted stays of execution in response to similar lawsuits.
“We wouldn't put a stray dog to sleep with the drugs we use to execute human beings,” argued State Public Defender David Bodiker. “Apparently, veterinarians worry more about torturing pets than Ohio’s executioners worry about torturing human beings.”
Roe was the Ninth person executed in the U.S. in 2004.
On the night before his execution, Roe was described as "cranky" toward the guards who were assigned to execute him. He spent time with his family and appeared very emotional. For his final dinner, he had a medium-well T-bone steak with steak sauce, onion rings, macaroni and cheese, butter-pecan ice cream and root beer.
It was reported by the Associate Press that it took guards over 20 minutes to insert shunts into Roe's veins during which Roe is said to have remained calm. It was also reported that when he was inside the death chamber, Roe glared at the Crawford family who were in the witness room holding hands. Roe apologized on the execution table but not for the murder of Donette Crawford. Instead, he blamed others for lying about him and newspapers for not doing more to help him.
“That son of a pregnant dog never quits does he,” said Don Crawford, the victim’s father and a witness to the execution.
He was pronounced dead on February 3, 2004 at 10:24 a.m. by lethal injection.
“Since Ohio resumed executions of capital offenders in 1999, the dignity of the inmate and the professionalism of the staff have been a top priority”,. said Steve Huffman, south regional director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Today's execution of John Glenn Roe, 41, was no exception. The staff expects the process to be carried out with the precision and professionalism executions require.
Like Lewis Williams Jr., Roe professed his innocence to the end.
“I’m actually innocent,” he said before a lethal dose of three drugs killed him. “God is my witness. I did not commit this crime. You are killing an innocent man today.”
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