Richard Cooey offers up expletives, not apologies before being executed

LUCASVILLE -- Convicted murderer, Richard Cooey, has been executed for the 1986 murders of two female University of Akron students. Cooey had argued his life should be spared because his obesity would make execution by lethal injection inhumane.

The Ohio Attorney General's Office says Cooey died at 10:28 a.m.

WKYC's Eric Mansfield was one of the media witnesses to the execution.

He reports that the only statement Cooey made in the execution chamber was, "You (expletive deleted) haven't cared what I had to say for the past 22 years. Why would you care what I have to say now?" Mansfield says Cooey did not look at the families of the victims while he was being put to death. He says Cooey climbed onto the execution table without protest. Mansfield says Cooey did yell when the shunts were being placed in his arms and asked for his attorney, but the request was denied.

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh released the following statement following Cooey's execution. The families of the victims, Dawn McCreery and Wendy Offredo asked Bevan Walsh to speak on their behalf.

The family made the following three points:

1. "With all of the efforts Cooey made to argue cruel and unusual punishment, he just demonstrated that even in the most extreme cases, the process was quick and apparently painless.
2. "It was disappointing that even in his last moments, he still would not apologize or take any responsibility. Instead, he was vulgar and hateful to the end.
3. "To the families who are going through the same ordeal, have faith ... the system eventually works."

Prosecutor Walsh concluded with her own words, saying, "It is time to take the focus off of Richard Cooey and to put it where it belongs, on the memories of Dawn and Wendy and everything their families have endured for the past 22 years, and will continue to endure for the rest of their lives."

There were no immediate reports of problems finding suitable veins to deliver the deadly chemicals.

Cooey's attorneys had argued that his weight problem could make it difficult for prison staff to access a vein. A prisons spokeswoman said earlier that Cooey received a pre-execution exam and was cleared. Cooey was 5-foot-7 and weighed 267 pounds.

Cooey was the first inmate executed in Ohio in more than a year,
and the first since the end of an unofficial national moratorium on
executions that began last year while the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed Kentucky's lethal injection procedure.

Earlier this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Cooey's final appeal. The nation's highest court offered no comment in refusing the case. In the appeal Cooey had argued that Ohio's lethal injection combination of three drugs would cause an agonizing and painful death. It also rejected Cooey's claim his obesity would interfere with the execution.

According to prison staff, Cooey spent until just after midnight eating his last meal and watching some local television. Cooey was given his final meal around 4 p.m. Monday. It consisted of a T-bone steak with A-1 sauce, french fries, onion rings, hash browns, four eggs over easy, toast with butter, a pint of Rocky Road ice cream, and "real" bear claws from the bakery. Prison staff members said Cooey spent much of the early morning pacing and sitting quietly and went to sleep around 4 a.m.

Cooey slept for just over an hour and got up around 5:20 a.m. He showered and declined breakfast. According to prison staff, Cooey tried to make one phone call to a friend but the call didn't go through. He then met with his lawyer and spiritual advisors.