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Arkansas Carries Out First Double Executions in U.S. Since 2000

In the nation's first double execution since 2000, Arkansas delivered heart-stopping doses of lethal drugs Monday night to death-row inmates Jack Jones Jr., 52, and Marcel Williams, 46.

In the nation's first double execution since 2000, Arkansas delivered heart-stopping doses of lethal drugs Monday night to death-row inmates Jack Jones Jr., 52, and Marcel Williams, 46.

 

Jones was pronounced dead at 7:20 p.m., 14 minutes after the execution began, prison officials said.

 

The convicted murderer moved his lips for about two minutes after the first drug entered his body at 7:06 p.m., according to witness Andrew DeMillo of The Associated Press. It wasn't clear whether the inmate was trying to speak, because the chamber microphone was turned off after his final statement, DeMillo said.

 

Jones' consciousness was checked at 7:11 p.m., and his chest rose and fell until about 7:13 p.m., DeMillo said.

 

Officials don't administer the second and third drugs in the three-drug injection process until the inmate is determined to be unconscious.

 

In interviews afterward, DeMillo and two news media witnesses reported no obvious signs of suffering or pain.

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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