Witness Recounts Execution of Carey Dean Moore

Aug. 15, 2018, 1 a.m. ·

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Carey Dean Moore execution witness Brent Martin of the Nebraska Radio Network. (Photo by Jack Williams, NET News)

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The state of Nebraska completed its first-ever execution by lethal injection Tuesday, putting to death condemned killer Carey Dean Moore inside the State Penitentiary in Lincoln. It was the first execution in the U.S. where fentanyl was used as part of the execution drug cocktail. NET’s Jack Williams spoke with Nebraska Radio Network News Director Brent Martin, who was an official witness to the execution.


NET News: Walk us through the set-up in the execution chamber. What did it look like?

Brent Martin: It looked very similar to execution chambers I had seen before. It’s basically the old, cinder block construction, two windows where we could view Carey Dean Moore. There was a mirror on the ceiling so we could see his right side, the left side faces us. He was covered in a white sheet, left arm extended, the IV in the arm. The drugs were administered through a tube that came out from another wall by his head. You couldn’t see the execution team at all. You did see the state corrections director and the acting warden, which is unusual. I had never seen anybody actually in the chamber when I witnessed executions in Missouri.

NET News: What was Moore’s demeanor?

Martin: I would say resigned. We met with him just before. He was going to give a last statement. He really didn’t give his last statement. He had written a statement on August 2nd that he had hand-written and given to prison officials. He talked about that there are claims of innocence on death row and that people need to check that out. He said that those who are fighting to stave off his execution should turn their energies towards that. He seemed resigned. He did seem (to have) a bit of anxiety there which you would have, but not real emotional, kind of very matter-of-fact.

NET News: As the actual process started, did he say anything right beforehand. Anything happen there?

Martin: When it started, we’re in the execution chamber and the first drugs are being administered, the curtain goes up. There were four media representatives who viewed it. There was a partition and we could not see his family members who observed it. As far as we know, there were three family members and a chaplain, spiritual advisor. He turned to them. You could clearly see that he said “I love you”. He then turned and looked at the ceiling. But then he did turn back and he mouthed some other words, but we couldn’t tell, none of us could tell what they were. That was the extent of what he did until the drugs really started taking effect.

NET News: Was there any kind of obvious indication that the drugs had taken effect and were working?

Martin: The first two that were to render him unconscious, it didn’t seem like there was much change. But then you could visibly see him coughing, his breathing was labored and you could tell that they were having an effect and then there was just stillness.

NET News: What did he look like from that point on?

Martin: His face was generally ashen. It turned a bit red and then maybe kind of a purple hue. A very gradual change of color.

NET News: You witnessed more than a dozen lethal injections in Missouri earlier in your career. Did this one take longer and was it different at all?

Martin: It took by far longer. Executions in Missouri took five minutes from the time that the drug was administered until death was pronounced. This one took a half an hour. I don’t think we should read too much into that. I don’t know why it took longer, other than I do believe in Nebraska the corrections officials were really trying to make sure they were doing it and doing it correctly.

NET News: Overall, how did Nebraska prison officials handle this process? They hadn’t done it in more than 20 years and had never done the drug cocktail. It had been by electric chair before. Was it efficient? Was it professional?

Martin: I think it was. I was very curious on that point. I was really watching because of what I had seen in Missouri. There had been so many executions with such frequency, it had become more or less routine. They knew what they were doing and it went rather smoothly. But it seemed like here, even though they had not done it before, other than taking longer, it seemed to me it went the way Nebraska Corrections officials wanted it to go.

NET News: You’re a journalist and served as a witness in that capacity. Have you had a moment to step away from that role and take a personal inventory on how you feel after witnessing something like that?

Martin: I have not and that goes back to, I think the only way you can do this, I think the only way you can view executions is if you don’t. You almost have to lock it up in a professional manner, not really try to make it personal at all. Try to make sure you went there to do a job, to witness the execution, to report faithfully back to the public. I understand that I am there, not because of Brent Martin or anything like that, I am there to observe and to report to the public and that’s what I’m there to do, so I try to really become detached from that and to always keep it professional.