Frank Atwood spent his final minutes advising Arizona executioners on how to administer his lethal injection, according to an Arizona Central reporter who witnessed the execution. 66-year-old Atwood was sentenced to death for the 1984 murder of an eight-year-old girl, though he maintained his innocence until he died at 10:16 am local time. According to Jimmy Jenkins, the reporter, Atwood spent approximately 30 minutes offering executioners suggestions on how to insert the IV—they followed his advice multiple times. Jenkins wrote on Twitter that Atwood, whose lawyers repeatedly tried to stay his execution on account of the discomfort he would feel lying on a gurney with his degenerative spinal condition, seemed to be in pain after the first few minutes. After executioners failed to insert an IV into his left arm, they planned to put a second line in his femoral vein, but instead tried his right arm at Atwood’s urging. Further failure on the right arm led executioners to contemplate inserting the needle through Atwood’s groin, but he suggested trying a vein on his hand instead. Again, the state officials listened. With that advice, they were eventually successful.
