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   DEATH ROW  

Monthly Death Row Population (Excel Spreadsheet)

Death Penalty Information Center

Execution Statistics (Excel Spreadsheet)

Scheduled Executions

Richard Tandy Smith - date requested.

Julius Recardo Young - Jan. 14, 2010.

 

Death Penalty Information

The current death penalty law was enacted in 1977 by the Oklahoma Legislature. The method to carry out the execution is by lethal injection. The original death penalty law in Oklahoma called for executions to be carried out by electrocution. In 1972 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the death penalty as it was then administered.

Oklahoma has executed a total of 171 men and 3 women between 1915 and 2009 at  the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Eighty-two were executed by electrocution, one by hanging (a federal prisoner) and 91 by lethal injection. The last execution by electrocution took place in 1966. The first execution by lethal injection in Oklahoma occurred on September 10, 1990, when Charles Troy Coleman, convicted in 1979 of Murder 1st Degree in Muskogee County was executed.

Execution Process

Method of Execution: Lethal Injection

Drugs used:  
Sodium Thiopental - causes unconsciousness
Vecuronium Bromide - stops respiration
Potassium Chloride - stops heart 

Two intravenous lines are inserted, one in each arm.  The drugs are injected by hand held syringes simultaneously into the two intravenous lines. The sequence is in the order that the drugs are listed above.   Three executioners are utilized, with each one injecting one of the drugs.