Ohio Executes First Inmate in More Than a Year
Ohio Executes First Inmate in More Than a Year Save Email Print
Posted: 10:24 AM Oct 14, 2008
 Last Updated: 2:54 PM Oct 14, 2008
 Reporter: Associated Press
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LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Ohio has executed a 5-foot-7, 267-pound double murderer who argued he was too fat to die humanely by lethal injection.

Richard Cooey died at 10:28 a.m. Tuesday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.

There were no immediate reports of problems finding suitable veins to deliver the deadly chemicals.

His attorneys had argued that his weight problem could make it difficult for prison staff to access a vein. A prisons spokeswoman said earlier that Cooey received a pre-execution exam and was cleared.

Cooey was the first inmate executed in Ohio in more than a year, and the first since the end of an unofficial national moratorium on executions that began last year while the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed Kentucky's lethal injection procedure.

The 41-year-old Cooey killed two University of Akron students in 1986.

LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court has denied an appeal by an Ohio double murderer to stop his execution Tuesday.

The high court turned down without comment Richard Cooey's complaint that the state's protocol for lethal injection could cause an agonizing and painful death. He wanted the state to use a single drug rather than a three-drug combination.

The court on Monday rejected a separate appeal based on Cooey's claim that he is too fat to be humanely executed by lethal injection. His lawyers say his obesity will make it hard for prison staff to find a viable vein to deliver the deadly chemicals.

A prisons spokeswoman says Cooey passed a pre-execution exam Tuesday and was cleared to receive a lethal injection.

Cooey killed two University of Akron students in 1986.
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Posted by: Killer on Oct 17, 2008 at 10:25 AM
All of the prisoners are guilty or they wouldn't be in prison,except the ones that are later found to be innocent,too bad we let them live long enough that DNA came along and proved them innocent.As the President once said"When I was Gov.of Texas we never executed an innocent man"A rush to judgment is wrong.Guess we could be like those Muslim's and lope off heads, hands,or stone em to death,a lot cheaper.
Posted by: Concerned Citizen on Oct 16, 2008 at 08:59 AM
At last count, there are over 5,000 prisoners on death row in the United States. At the rate of $70.000 per prisoner per year to keep them, that comes to a whopping $350 MILLION per year to keep people alive that a court and jury have decided, by our state constitutions and laws, should die for the crime(s) they committed. If they were all executed today, that would make a huge dent in our troubled State and Federal budgets. Also, if you want to make the death penalty a deterrent to crime, let's go back to public hanging on court house lawns. If more people could actually SEE what it's like to be executed, they may think twice before committing a crime that carries the death penalty. While I feel sure that prison is no resort camp, it is a roof over your head, a warm bed, and 3 squares a day. Better than living on the street. Most know they will never face the executioner anyway. If you wish to STAY in prison, what a better way then to get the death penalty?
Posted by: To jesus on Oct 16, 2008 at 07:03 AM
Go back to the nut house buddy!!
Posted by: Anonymous on Oct 16, 2008 at 04:10 AM
don't do the crime if you can't do the time. i can't imagine how those poor girls felt. what about THEIR mamma?
Posted by: Anonymous on Oct 15, 2008 at 04:45 PM
For the ones who like to quote the ten commandments out of context, God is writing to you. Exodus says "He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death" or "But if a man acts in premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die." or "And he who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death". Sounds like God's is laying down the law!! "Thou shalt not kill" is for people like Cooey who kills innocent people.
Posted by: Me on Oct 15, 2008 at 12:22 PM
Should have put him on a diet
Posted by: to jesus on Oct 15, 2008 at 12:16 PM
your part right cooey shouldn't of killed but it also says an eye for an eye so just dont use the parts you like and not all of the book
Posted by: Laura on Oct 15, 2008 at 11:43 AM
to the "JESUS" person, get real for one he wouldn't post under a fake name and rattle bull crap that makes no sense whatsoever. I'm happy to read that there was no one here taking up for the freak that was put down. Justice served for one family at least there is closure. Sorry it just took so long for them to get it.
Posted by: Jesus on Oct 15, 2008 at 11:06 AM
Let he who is not guilty of sin,cast the first stone.Thou shall not kill.What would Jesus do?Love is the greatest commandment I give you.Why do so called Christians put "except for's"in the commandments?Why do so called preachers not take a stand for "thou shall not kill"instead of tickle the ears with except for's.This mans life was aborted just years later than the others that seem to have more value to Christians. Maybe if he was aborted earlier??? Just ask yourselves one question,what would Jesus do?
Posted by: To Isaac on Oct 15, 2008 at 10:24 AM
I lost a family member to a murderer too. That's why I fully support the death penalty. I stood by the bedside of my 15 year old cousin for three days and watched him die. YOU are the one who would feel differently IF it were your family member with lines stabbed into every vein possible to pump in blood. My cousin was shot in the head with a shotgun. Just imagine what was left of his face and what our family went through. NO SYMPATHY FOR KILLERS! If you can't hit the vein, fry them or put a bullet through their head. Too much sympathy is given to the killers and not the victims of crime.
Posted by: TO AMAZING on Oct 15, 2008 at 10:03 AM
WHAT DOES DOGS HAVE TO DUE WITH SOMEONE KILLING 2 STUDENTS? YOUR A IDIOT!!
Posted by: anon on Oct 15, 2008 at 09:23 AM
election time....let's execute somebody!
Posted by: Sad on Oct 15, 2008 at 08:25 AM
I hope that the families have some kind of closure now that this piece of trash has been taken from this world. Why should he have any rights? These poor girls. May the family find the peace that they deserve.
Posted by: JIMMY on Oct 15, 2008 at 08:14 AM
WAY TO GO OHIO, KILL A FEW MORE OF THEM IF YOU GOT ANY MORE! HEY WILLIAM YOU ARE RIGHT THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS COUTNRY NEEDS, AND TO BE POLITICALY CORRECT IT IS B. HUSSEIN O.
Posted by: to William on Oct 15, 2008 at 08:03 AM
Ok he was on death row since 1986 that is 22 yrs in which 14yrs were rep prez and 8 yrs dem, death penalty is state issue and without congress to back him no prez will change it
Posted by: Isaac on Oct 15, 2008 at 06:30 AM
The thing is it never really bothers anyone until it is their family ! This man had a mother somewhere who was sad and crying, I believe in the death penalty I just do not believe in saying things like people on here are saying . Anyone who can take a life is clearly sick and should be destroyed with respect not for the killer but for his family. I know that if this was any of you people's family it would be different to you and of course then you would have some excuse as to why the death penalty is wrong ! Just keep in mind people that there are 5% on the death row who are innocent according to statistics so when you want to act as if you would never be like these guys you better stop and think before fate comes knocking !
Posted by: wildboar on Oct 15, 2008 at 03:01 AM
i'm sorry that the family had to wait soooooo long...just think of the tax $$$$$ we could save if we just did the sane thing to the rest of them.!!!!!!
Posted by: Just lettin' off steam on Oct 15, 2008 at 12:19 AM
This makes me think there is still hope for our country. People taking a stance against evil. Let your congressmen and women know this. I say kill them all. They benefit no one. And for those of you that want to start raving about this statement, I can bet you would rather have me standing beside you than one of those death row killers.
Posted by: William on Oct 14, 2008 at 10:43 PM
Well folks you better take this Presidential election serious. If BO is elected this man that FINALLY received his just reward would have never been sentenced to die. OB does not support the death penalty. Wake up America we have a battle for Right and Wrong. This piece of trash Cooey was on Death Row way to long this is pitiful. Time for Change alright but it isn't the Liberal way.
Posted by: trudge on Oct 14, 2008 at 07:50 PM
it's a shame that ohio took this many years to execute this monster! i will never understand how people like cooey think they deserve more than what they gave their victims. may the victims rest in peace.
Posted by: Larry on Oct 14, 2008 at 05:53 PM
Justice was served here. I am sure that guy went a lot more peacefully than the two girls he raped, tortured and killed. A waste of a good tbone if you ask me.
Posted by: lww on Oct 14, 2008 at 05:51 PM
He should have dieded the way the two girls he killed deied.
Posted by: Amazing on Oct 14, 2008 at 04:38 PM
Wonder how many protesters were there to make a stance against this? People do not protest these killings very much at all- it's dogs who we get upset regarding.
Posted by: phil on Oct 14, 2008 at 04:19 PM
Well then,perhaps abullet in the brain ,would be more humane???
Posted by: Kelly on Oct 14, 2008 at 04:01 PM
In the future, if they are too over weight to die by lethal injection, we could always line them up on the wall and shoot them like they did in the good old days.
Posted by: In Ohio on Oct 14, 2008 at 03:50 PM
Oh, poor baby. It might hurt him a little if they have to dig around for a vien. Did he ever stop to think about the two girls he TORTURED and KILLED? Did he care what kind of pain they went through? Then why should we care what kind of pain he goes through. Stop crying and die like a man.
Posted by: Anonymous on Oct 14, 2008 at 03:42 PM
Well, he certainly wasn't too obese to commit the murders. He didn't show the victims any mercy. I'm glad his execution went on as scheduled. It should happen to more who commit murder with disregard to human life. When one chooses to take the life of another I think they give up their rights to whine when its their time to pay the price for their crime!
Posted by: Dave on Oct 14, 2008 at 03:20 PM
Great. Maybe if more met this fate, crime would decrease somewhat. The only problem was how long it took.
Posted by: Anonymous on Oct 14, 2008 at 02:37 PM
what is wrong with our system that it takes 22 years to impose the death penalty on this man.. he certianly didn't care about the rights of his victims..why were his rights more important?
Posted by: pam on Oct 14, 2008 at 02:14 PM
How humane was the girls death? Was theirs painless? I weigh 185 lbs and they have a hard time finding a vein on me. My nickname was "Frog" at Cabell Huntington while I was pregnant because they had a hard time finding a vein on me. Read Livic. 24 and read the laws commanded by GOD.
Posted by: JIMMY on Oct 14, 2008 at 02:11 PM
AT WHAT POINT DO YOU BECOME TO FAT TO DIE BY LETHAL INJECTION? WOULD THEY NOT ADJUST THE DOSE OF MEDS ACCORDING TO BODY WEIGHT, LIKE THEY DO ANY OTHER TIME? I GUESS IF YOU ARE TO FAT TO DIE HUMANELY THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T KILL ANYONE ELSE? WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Posted by: Carol on Oct 14, 2008 at 01:55 PM
One finds it ironic that Mr. Cooey was worried about suffering during his execution... Did he offer the same concern to his victims ?
Posted by: Debbie on Oct 14, 2008 at 01:16 PM
I hated to see any human die, but I believe Mr. Cooey lost his right to live when he took two young lives in 1986. For him to even think he had a choice to not die by lethal injection is obsered. As far as I am concern he lost all his rights the day he took those two lives.
Posted by: About time on Oct 14, 2008 at 01:09 PM
Society will not miss a thing the bad part is it took so long to get the job done,to many appeals for these idiots.Quit wasting tax money housing them when there is no doubt and they are sentenced to death kill them and get it over with need to bring back public executions who knows it may stop some of the crime.Dont see why this scum was worth the $416,500.00 we spent to house him while waiting for the same end that could have been done in 1986
Posted by: UUUHHHHH... on Oct 14, 2008 at 01:02 PM
Now they just need to line the rest of them up and keep on going!!
Posted by: Eye for and Eye on Oct 14, 2008 at 12:54 PM
Thank GOD Ohio has the death penalty. In this case for example here's how Richard Cooey killed his two victims. A chunk of concrete dropped from an Interstate 77 bridge crashing onto Offredo’s black Pontiac Fiero as she and McCreery were returning from a waitressing shift in the wee hours of the morning. The concrete had been dropped by then 17 year old Clint Dickens, who along with Cooey and Kenneth Horonetz jumped into Cooey’s car and pretended to rescue the women. Instead, the three men took McCreery and Offredo to a wooded area. Horonetz got “scared” and fled, after which Cooey and Dickens subjected McCreery and Offredo to 3½ hours “of fear and torture and agony,” By the time McCreery and Offredo were dead, they had been repeatedly raped, stabbed with a pocket knife and bludgeoned with a nightstick. Cooey then carved the letter X into the stomachs of both women. ..... so to all who oppose the death penalty... ask yourself... what if that were your daughter?
Posted by: Joker on Oct 14, 2008 at 12:19 PM
One less murdering piece of trash in the world.
Posted by: Anonymous on Oct 14, 2008 at 12:09 PM
See what I dont understand is why does it take so long to kill someone on death row?! I mean. 1986? Thats a long time for these two girls families to know that HE was still breathing!
Posted by: Anonymous on Oct 14, 2008 at 12:04 PM
good, i'm glad he's dead now, anyone that is capable of doing this should be put down!
Posted by: c on Oct 14, 2008 at 12:01 PM
TAKE HIM OUT AND SHOOT HIM. He's worried about a little pain, what about the two college students, how much pain did they have?
Posted by: JMiller on Oct 14, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Had the state of Ohio executed the man in 1986, he would not have had the chance to gain so much weight and waste valuable tax dollars during the appeals process. Its a shame that West Virginia does not have the death penalty, Im sure there are hundreds of scum suckers in the state prison systems that deserve to die.
Posted by: hmmm on Oct 14, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Did he hurt his victims when he killed them? An eye for an eye.
Posted by: Bob on Oct 14, 2008 at 11:27 AM
Let's see... a double murderer concerned about feeling pain himself? TOO BAD!
Posted by: drema on Oct 14, 2008 at 11:03 AM
we need the death penalty in west virginia.
Posted by: gene on Oct 14, 2008 at 11:00 AM
what's his problem. were'nt his victims TOO young to die?
Posted by: TIRED on Oct 14, 2008 at 10:59 AM
IT ABOUT TIME TO TAKE CARE OF THESE GUYS.ALL OF US OUT HERE ARE TIRED OF SUPPORTING THEM.
Posted by: Ari on Oct 14, 2008 at 10:36 AM
They wait way to long to give these people the death penalty, if they are sentenced to the death penalty they should have like a month then just get it over with. Who cares if he suffers. he should for what he did.
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