Section A ยท Page 6 The University Daily Kansan Thursday, April 16, 1998 Kansas' death penalty raised from dead The death penalty in Kansas 1965: Richard Hickock No death penalty Death penalty legal, but rarely used Death penalty in effect Andrew Rohrback / KANSAN Source: Office of the Director of Penal Institutions, U.S. Supreme Court Continued from page 1A have not been drawn up, and the only work done has been to knock out some walls in the old administrative wing. "We'd like to be done by July, but right now we're not in a real big rush" he said. Gaito estimated that the whole execution area would not cost more than $25,000 to $35,000. Kansas is examining execution protocols from states like Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas, things ranging from the movement of the condemned and witnesses to how the inmate is fed and monitored. "We're visiting other states considering protocols that have been adopted involving treatment of prisoners, not just execution," Miskell said. FINAL EXAMINATION In the last 10 minutes of Kleypas' life, he will be led into a room with curtained windows. A gurney will sit in the middle of the room, about four feet off the floor, a gurney almost identical to that a sick child or an accident victim might be laid upon in a hospital โ€” a cushioned surface covered with sterile white sheets. Brown leather straps on the stainless steel frame and IV lines nearby will make it clear, though, that this is not a hospital. Rep. Greg Packer sits in his brown leather, high-backed chair, surrounded by the constant buzz of House proceedings. He glanced up. from his work, his face yellowed by the filtered light from the windows next to his desk. By using lethal injection, Kansas will avoid cruel and unusual claims, Packer said, adding that the death penalty is necessary to deter crime. "My district wanted it overwhelmingly," he said. "And I've always thought it was a good thing." "Right now, it has helped with litigation cost," he said. "They've pleaded for the 'hard 40.' They've given up evidence and information, and that helps put the case to bed a lot easier." Packer said that having the death penalty helped the state without even executing anyone. Criminals, afraid of being executed, were more likely to plea bargain. Sister Therese Bangert's Kansas City, Kan., office is in the Duchene Clinic, next to St. Mary's-St. Anthony's Church. Across the street to the south, a defunct restaurant, Griffeyfey's Burger Bar, flaunts a gaudy red, yellow, green and blue-striped sign at passing traffic. Bangert has been working actively to abolish the death penalty in Kansas for the last 10 years. Her activism began in 1987, when former Gov. Mike Hayden used it as a plank in his campaign platform. Bangert said that the death penalty should not be a way of venting hatred. Rather than killing the killer, states must step in to curb "You can't take away the victims' rage, anger, hate," she said. "The state needs to be the voice of reason. The death penalty has ripples that go out and out and out, because then you ask jurors to take life, judges to take life." violence, she said. In the final analysis, Bangert said, executing murderers does not help anyone. "Does this help our society?" she said. "The death penalty is such a sign of hopelessness โ€” we will counter violence with more violence. There are grieving families on both sides of the issue. You can't say we're doing it humanely โ€” killing someone is killing someone." Kansas likely will follow a procedure similar to the one in Missouri, a state that has executed 17 people since 1976, six in 1995. David Holden witnessed the Missouri execution of Larry Griffin, who was convicted of first-degree murder. Holden wrote: At 3:30 a.m. we were led downstairs. Everyone became rather solemn as we walked through the clean white halls, passing through several mechanized doorways, waiting for each to close with a reverberating clang behind us. "The briefing took about five minutes, and then we were led into another room to witness the event. A stepped platform with chairs on two walls of the execution chamber faced small windows in the walls. The windows were covered." "A moment later, the representative notified us that the execution was about to begin and that the first drug would be administered. The curtains were raised." The first drug will stop Kylepas' breathing. The second will collapse his lungs and diaphragm. The final drug will stop his heart and kill him. A GOOD WAY TO DIE As the clock ticks toward midnight, Kleypas will be strapped down, the brown leather straps tightened so they are firm but do not restrict circulation. His head will be left unrestrained so that he can give his last statement. IVs already will have been placed in both arms. After his statement, the room will be cleared except for a few technicians. The death warrant will be read to Kleypas, and the last five minutes of his life will begin. Although the execution witnessed by Holden seemed quiet, flawless and humane, the Florida Department of Corrections, in a survey of state execution methods, noted several problems that can occur during lethal injections. In Oklahoma, Robyn Lee Parks had a reaction to the drugs. In a scene described as violent and ugly, Parks had spasms in his jaw, neck and abdominal muscles for about 45 seconds as he gasped and gagged. In Texas, Raymond Landry's execution went awry when the IV line came loose two minutes into the killing, spraying the chemicals on the execution team. The team had to reinsert the catheter into the vein. The execution ended up taking 40 minutes. In Illinois, John Wayne Gacy's IV lines clogged with the addition of the third drug. The clogged tube had to be replaced with a new one. In Missouri, Emmitt Foster's execution took more than 30 minutes because the straps holding him to the gurney prevented the flow of toxins into his veins. The coroner noticed the problem 20 minutes after the execution began. In Indiana, Tommie Smith's execution took one hour and 20 minutes after the team began administering the drugs. Prison officials could not find a vein in Smith's arm and had to insert an angiocatheter into his heart, a procedure that took about 35 minutes. Smith remained conscious during the procedure. In Arkansas, Rickey Ray Rector's executioners took more than 50 minutes to find a suitable vein. Rector, who already had received a lobotomy, eventually had to help them find a vein. In the end, Kleypas' body, still on the gurney, will be wheeled out of the execution chamber. The curtains will be closed, and the witnesses will be led out. Kleypas' execution may not happen if attorney like Jeff Moorts accomplish their goals. But for Kansas, the issue of how to kill somebody refuses to stop breathing. Will Kleypas' execution method be better than the one that jerked the life out of Smith and Hickock? Packer said that lethal injection was more modern and more humane. "It's what's most frequently used right now," he said. Executed inmates "There is no humane way to kill someone," Bangert said. "Method is not an issue for me. It's an excuse to say it's OK." Prisoners executed in Kansas: But Bangert refused to accept any means of killing. 1862 John Bell rape/robbery 1863 Carl Home murder John Shirley rape/robbery Claudeus C. Frizell murder William Griffith murder 1865 John Hendley murder 1866 Ernest Wa-tee-cha murder Ben Lewis murder 1867 Martin W. Bates murder Scott Holderman murder 1868 Melvin E. Baughn murder 1870 William Dickson murder 1887 Lee Mosler murder 1888 Jake Tobler murder Joe Tobler murder 1930 Carl Panzran murder 1938 Robert J. Suhay murder Glen J. Applegate murder 1944 Ernest L. Hoeffgen murder Fred L. Brady murder Clark B. Knox murder 1947 Cecil Tate murder George F. Gumtow murder 1950 George Miller murder 1951 Preston McBride murder 1952 James Lammers murder 1954 Nathaniel Germany murder Merle William Martin murder Bernard J. Obrien murder 1955 Chastine Beverly murder James L. Riggins murder Louis M. Suttles murder 1957 Winfred D. Moore murder Thomas J. Edwards murder Ernest L. Ranson murder 1958 Abraham Thomas murder 1959 John E. Day murder 1961 John A. Bennett rape 1962 Lowell Lee Andrews murder 1965 Richard E. Hickock murder Perry E. Smith murder James D. Latham murder George R. York murder Source: Office of the Director of Penal Institutions, U.S. Supreme Court Andrew Rohrback/ KANSAN