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.
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska carried out its first execution in more than two decades 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 that there appeared to be no complications in the execution process, which also was the first time a state used four drugs in combination. Media witnesses 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.
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. The execution drew only about a dozen death penalty supporters and protesters who stood in the rain outside the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln.
The light turnout stood in contrast to the 1994 execution of Harold Lamont Otey, when more than 1,000 people created a party-like atmosphere. Otey was executed shortly after midnight in the electric chair, and some in the crowd sang “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” after it was announced. Later executions were scheduled at 10 a.m.
Moore’s execution comes a little more than three years after Nebraska lawmakers abolished the death penalty, only to have it reinstated the following year through a citizen ballot drive partially financed by Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts.
According to prosecutors, Moore was 21 when he fatally shot Reuel Van Ness during a robbery with his younger brother, and used the money to buy drugs and pornography. Moore fatally shot Maynard Helgeland by himself five days later, saying he wanted to prove he could take a man’s life by himself. Moore was arrested a week later. He was charged and convicted of first-degree murder, while his 14-year-old brother was convicted of second-degree murder.