Protocol for execution: 'We are ready'

By Carol Clark
CNN

Although it was built in 1940, the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, wasn't designated as the federal execution site until 1993.

(CNN) -- Two years before a bomb killed 168 people at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons began developing a precise protocol for "efficient and humane" executions.

The man convicted of the Oklahoma City bombing may become the first to die by the step-by-step procedures of the 54-page document.

The solemn ritual outlined in the Execution Protocol calls for Timothy McVeigh to be strip-searched, then dressed in a shirt, khaki pants and slip-on shoes before he is led to the execution chamber at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. The "restraint team" will strap him to a padded gurney.

Then the curtains will part over the glass panels so that about 30 people seated in the witness rooms can watch McVeigh draw his last breath. About 300 other victims and relatives of those who died in the bombing will watch the procedure on closed-circuit television in Oklahoma City.

Execution countdown Sunday, June 10 7:00 a.m. CDT McVeigh's telephone privileges and visitors will be restricted to his attorneys, his immediate family members and a spiritual adviser, if he requests one. Midnight The Bureau of Prisons will begin to shuttle demonstrators, who will gather in two nearby parks, to the prison grounds. Monday, June 11 5:00 a.m. Any visitors McVeigh may have must leave. 6:30 a.m. McVeigh will be searched and restrained if necessary, before being taken to the execution room and strapped to the gurney. Witnesses will be escorted to their seats and the drapes of the witness rooms will be opened. 7:00 a.m. The executioners will administer the lethal injection. Lethal injection Execution by lethal injection involves the continuous intravenous administration of three drugs. In executions conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, the first drug, sodium pentothal, is a barbiturate that renders the condemned person unconscious. Executioners then administer pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxant that paralyzes the lungs and diaphragm and stops breathing. A third drug, usually potassium chloride, causes cardiac arrest and stops the heart. The drugs, administered at levels that exceed clinical use, should cause death within five minutes. Executioners flush the IV lines with saline solution after each drug to prevent the lines from clogging. However, blocked lines and collapsed veins are common problems in the lethal injection process. Some states allow the administering of a sedative before execution to relax the inmate and make locating a suitable vein easier.

Warden Harley Lappin will ask McVeigh if he has a final statement. McVeigh plans to recite from the poem "Invictus," which includes the lines, "I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul," according to his biography, "American Terrorist."

Afterward, Lappin will read an official statement, concluding with: "We are ready."

Those will be the last words McVeigh hears, according to the protocol.

Work on the protocol began in 1993, when federal rules for executions were finalized. The basic guidelines were completed in 1995, and since then it "has been a working document," said Bureau of Prisons spokesman Dan Dunne. "Enhancements have been made to it."

The federal government has not carried out an execution in 38 years.

Federal inmate David Ronald Chandler was scheduled to die in 1995 for hiring a man to kill a police informant. But just 10 days before his execution date, new evidence introduced through an appeal won him a stay. Later, Chandler was among those granted clemency on President Bill Clinton's final day in office.

McVeigh has said he is ready to die, but the FBI's failure to disclose some documents during his trial prompted U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to push back his original execution date 30 days.

The following is a summary of how the prison bureau plans to handle McVeigh's final hours:

24 to 72 hours before the execution

McVeigh will be transferred from the condemned prisoner unit to a holding cell in the execution facility itself. The 9-by-14 cell includes a shower, a toilet, a bed and a metal desk. Unlike his previous cell, it has no television. He will be allowed to bring only a book, a newspaper or a magazine and writing paper. The only window will look onto an officer's station, where guards will monitor McVeigh continuously.

The execution staff will undergo a final practice drill.

Communication links between the execution facility and the Department of Justice Command Center in Washington will be checked.

The execution equipment will be inventoried and checked.

24 to 12 hours before

McVeigh's telephone privileges will be suspended.

The warden will ask McVeigh what he wants for his last meal and ensure that the staff prepares it.

12 to three hours before

Immediate family members, lawyers and other persons approved by the prison bureau will be allowed final visits with McVeigh.

McVeigh will be served his last meal.

Access to the prison property will be tightly restricted.

Three hours to 30 minutes before

The executioners will be escorted into the execution facility.

All other execution staff will assemble on-site for final instructions at least 45 minutes before the event.

30 minutes before

A restraint team will remove McVeigh from the holding cell, strip-search him and then dress him in khaki pants, a shirt and slip-on shoes.

Straps and padlocks hold the condemned prisoner to the gurney.

He will be secured by restraints if deemed necessary by the warden and escorted to the execution room.

The restraint team will strap him to a T-shaped gurney.

Witnesses who are survivors of the bombing or family members of those killed will be escorted to their assigned area.

Next, those witnesses invited by McVeigh will be admitted and escorted to their assigned area.

Lastly, members of the media will be admitted to their area.

The final moments

All staff members will exit the execution room except for the warden, the local U.S. marshal and the executioners.

Drapes covering the windows of the three witness rooms will be opened.

The warden will ask McVeigh if he has any last words or wishes.

After McVeigh's remarks, the warden will read an official statement required for the execution process and then tell the U.S. marshal, "We are ready."

The U.S. marshal will give a prearranged signal to the warden, who will direct the executioners to administer the lethal injection.

An electrocardiogram will be monitored until signs of life have ceased.

The warden will announce the time of death, and the drapes will close.

Post-execution

The witnesses will leave the execution facility. Each group will be kept separate and escorted to waiting vehicles.

McVeigh's body will be turned over to the county coroner. (McVeigh requested that his body be cremated immediately after the execution without an autopsy, and a judge ruled that he had no jurisdiction in the matter.)

The execution room will be cleaned and restored to its previous condition.

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