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Death row murderer suffered ‘excruciating’ death after making last meal ‘mistake’

Home> News> Crime

Updated 14:14 6 Jan 2024 GMTPublished 13:59 6 Jan 2024 GMT

Death row murderer suffered ‘excruciating’ death after making last meal ‘mistake’

The death row inmate suffered one of the 'most excruciating feelings known to man'

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

Warning: graphic content

A death row inmate - who suffered an ‘excruciating’ death - made a ‘mistake’ in his last meal request.

Wesley Ira Purkey, 68, from the US, was sent to death row in 2004 for the kidnapping, rape and murdering of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in 1998.

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The killer lured Jennifer Long into his pickup truck outside a supermarket where he assulted the young girl and shot her dead.

Purkey then dismembered her body with a chainsaw and buried her in a pond in Kansas.

Her remains were never found.

Wesley Ira Purkey, 68, from the US, was sent to death row in 2004 for the kidnapping, rape and murdering of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in 1998.
Kansas Dept. of Corrections

That same year, he beat 80-year-old polio patient Mary Bales to death after he visited her home to fit in a kitchen tap.

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Neighbours became aware of the incident as they alerted police, who came to the property, to arrest him.

Purkey pleaded guilty to Bales’ murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

However, it was when he confessed to Long’s murder that he was given the death penalty.

The 68-year-old was put to death by a lethal injection of pentobarbital and was administered the dose at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, on 16 July 2020.

The killer lured Jennifer Long into his pickup truck outside a supermarket where he defiled the young girl and shot her dead.
Kansas Dept. of Corrections

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In terms of his autopsy, it revealed 'severe bilateral acute pulmonary oedema' and 'frothy pulmonary oedema in trachea and main stem bronchi', meaning fluid entered his lungs which causes the feeling of drowning.

In fact, it's been described as 'among the most excruciating feelings known to man'.

Dr Gail Van Norman said: "It is a virtual medical certainty, that most, if not all, prisoners will experience excruciating suffering, including sensations of drowning and suffocation from (the drug) pentobarbital."

He had reportedly been suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's and, the night before his execution, for his last meal Purkey requested a pecan pie.

The issue being, he asked to eat it 'later' - not realising there wouldn't be a later.

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According to accounts, Purkey's last words were: "I deeply regret the pain and suffering I caused to Jennifer's family. I am deeply sorry.

"I deeply regret the pain I caused to my daughter, who I love so very much. This sanitised murder really does not serve no purpose whatsoever."

Long’s family were present at the execution, as her father William said: “We took care of today, what we needed to take care of. It has been a long time coming.

“He needed to take his last breath – he took my daughter’s last breath. And there’s some resolve. There is no closure, and there never will be because I won’t get my daughter back.”

Featured Image Credit: Kansas Dept. of Corrections

Topics: US News, Crime, True Crime

Anish Vij
Anish Vij

Anish is a Journalist at LADbible Group and is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2025. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

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@Anish_Vij

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