Nebraska executes inmate using powerful opioid fentanyl

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska carried out its first execution in more than two decades on Tuesday with a drug combination never tried before, including the first use of the powerful opioid fentanyl in a lethal injection.

Carey Dean Moore, 60, was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m. Moore had been sentenced to death for killing two cab drivers in Omaha in 1979. He was the first inmate to be lethally injected in Nebraska, which last carried out an execution in 1997, using the electric chair.

Witnesses said there appeared to be no complications in the execution process, which also was the first time a state used four drugs in combination. Moore remained mostly still throughout the execution but breathed heavily and gradually turned red and then purple as the drugs were administered.

Media witnesses including The Associated Press saw Moore take short, gasping breaths that became deeper and more labored. His chest heaved several times before it went still. His eyelids briefly cracked open.

At one point while on the gurney, Moore turned his head and mouthed several words to his family, including "I love you." No members of the victims' families witnessed the execution.

The Department of Correctional Services said the first lethal injection drug was administered at 10:24 a.m. The prison warden lowered a curtain over the media's viewing window at 10:39 a.m. and raised it again about 14 minutes later.

Dawn-Renee Smith, the department's chief of staff, said the curtain was lowered after the execution team notified Department Director Scott Frakes that the last drug had been injected. Smith said Frakes and Acting Warden Robert Madsen waited in the execution room for five minutes to ensure the drugs had taken effect before summoning the county coroner from another part of the prison to confirm Moore's death.

Moore was declared dead at 10:47 a.m. The viewing curtain was lifted again about six minutes later to reveal Moore's body and remained open for 40 seconds.

In his final written statement, Moore admitted: "I am guilty." But he said there are others on Nebraska's death row who he believes are innocent and he said they should be released.

"How might you feel if your loved one was innocent and on death row?" Moore asked.

The execution drew only about a dozen death penalty supporters and protesters who stood in the rain outside the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln. More than 150 people gathered outside the Nebraska Capitol later in the day to protest the execution.

The light turnout stood in contrast to the 1994 execution of Harold Lamont Otey, when more than 1,000 people created a raucous, party-like atmosphere. Otey was executed shortly after midnight in the electric chair, and some in the crowd sang the song "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" after it was announced. Following Otey's punishment, executions were changed to a morning schedule.