Press Conference Key Quotes

Execution Concerns and Protocol Issues

"That breaks everything down by time, but when we left at, well, when they told us to leave at 8.53, Krista Pike was still breathing."

— Catherine Sweeney • 00:00:00

"They did two separate rounds of pentobarbital, which I've never seen before."

— Catherine Sweeney • 00:00:00

"The protocol does say that they should do a second round if the person is still alive after the first push of 500 milligrams of pentamart."

— Catherine Sweeney • 00:00:00

"Yeah, she started coughing at 728. We came in at 727."

— Catherine Sweeney • 00:00:00

"Yeah, she started coughing at 728. We came in at 727."

— Catherine Sweeney • 00:00:00

"Yeah, she started coughing at 728. We came in at 727."

— Catherine Sweeney • 00:00:00

"most of the ones this year we haven't seen anything like it. It went really poorly."

— Catherine Sweeney • 00:00:00

"She said I just want to say that I'm going to leave this world the way I I'm going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life and that is with love. And she says she loves the people who are angry with her just as much as she loves the people who are on her side. She said I'm at peace and I'm ready to go. Her spiritual advisor was with her."

— Damon Lawrence • 00:00:00

"The first thing I want to tell you is very obviously we have a lot of questions about what we saw and what we did not see because there were moments when the blinds were down for us and there were moments when the blinds were up for us. It appeared that this did not go like they thought it was supposed to go but we don't know that when we left the building so far as we knew she was probably still alive you just saw the emergency vehicles pull up"

— John North • 00:00:00

"we don't know her status and i think it's fair to say and these guys will tell you more we have a lot of questions and the department of correction has a lot of answers that it needs to provide to the public about what happened here why was it that by the time the blinds went down for the second time at 8.05 she was still breathing and her breathing at points was very rhythmic now at times it appeared labored she was snoring at times but she was still breathing we had to listen to all that from 8.05 until we left the building with the blinds down we could not see what was happening"

— John North • 00:00:00

"we heard activity but we don't know what happened we're not sure that's appropriate and that's a question that we'd like answered all right i'll let the other folks talk"

— John North • 00:00:00

"Nothing about today was normal, typical, at all. And the court delay was just the tip of the iceberg. When we got inside, I think it was around 641, we got into the witness chamber. We were waiting there for almost an hour, which is unusual. Normally it's 10, 15 minutes, and then things get underway um we could hear like a little crying and whimpering at times um but when the curtains finally opened yeah she said her last words, which you heard she she kept them about"

— Tori Gessner • 00:00:00

"her spiritual advisor was there uh with her touching her he was a man um they were singing i love you so much and talking you know saying i'll go in peace um at one point at 7 34 she said my arm feels like it's about to burst open uh then she smiles really big then she starts talking about that one spot on her arm does this happen like"

— Tori Gessner • 00:00:00

"then her advisor says relax and she says i'm trying um yeah she's talking throughout this then starts breathing moaning snoring — the curtains close at first at 7 46 — and she was clearly still alive she was clearly still breathing and snoring we could audibly hear that the curtains open again — three minutes later She was snoring very loudly at that point, mouth open snoring, and then the curtains close again at 8.05, and that's when they remained closed."

— Tori Gessner • 00:00:00

"Media witnesses repeatedly asked, can we open the curtains, because we could still audibly hear her snoring, and we were kind of looked at like, we don't know."

— Tori Gessner • 00:00:00

"um but yeah and at one point her snore started to get squeaky we didn't know if it was her making that noise or a machine but that's all I have to add"

— Tori Gessner • 00:00:00

"Then, they close for the first time at 7.46 when she was still snoring."

— Tori Gessner • 00:00:00

"Yes, because we all looked at each other like she's still alive."

— Tori Gessner • 00:00:00

"And then they close again at 8.05 and they do not reopen. And we were escorted out at 8.53."

— Tori Gessner • 00:00:00

"The mic was on and she was, at that point, so when the curtains were open, she was kind of inconsistently going in and out of snores and silence. When the curtains closed the final time at 8.05, we could consistently hear her snoring and then it kind of developed into a snore squeak and then a snore and even at 853 when the microphone was cut off we could still hear snoring. Yeah."

— Tori Gessner • 00:00:00

"I think we all can imagine what we know is heavy snoring and that's the best description we can give you for the noises that were made after she had gotten her two doses of pentobarbital."

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"The first one it started when they started the second process which has already been kind of outlined for you. It just became rhythmic. John noted that. I want to sort of walk you through what it sounded like when we were walked into the chamber, but before the microphones were turned on. We heard multiple metal on metal. At one point, I heard a groan and what sounded like a cry at one point. I heard what sounded like potential paper being rustling, if you imagine what it sounds like"

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"when you open up a band-aid. That's what I heard on multiple occasions. On top of that, you could hear the velcro fastening what that was eventually is just her being strapped down to the gurney as you could see when it came there was faint talking continued paper rustling that got us to about 715"

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"at that point it was noted by the rest of my colleagues about how abnormally long this process was taking at 715 from there you could again hear the clanging of metal it sounded like they were rolling some sort of pan in and out. At 726 is when we got the mic checked. One minute later, the curtain opened. Krista Gilpike was laying down. Her hair was that curly blondish red hair with a string laying down. All you could see the rest of her right arm was laid out. You can't see"

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"her left arm from our vantage point. Her right arm did have an IV in it, or at least that's where she was getting one dose of the medicine from in her right arm. She made her statement, which has been recited for you already. She and her spiritual advisors started to sing that's been outlined to you. But it was at a point where she looked at the warden and the other person in the room. They recited this song. She looked at our window, recited the song and said the people"

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"behind the curtain in the glass while reciting this song. From there, the spiritual advisor started to pat her head multiple times. They exchanged words. You couldn't really hear what they were saying. As it's been outlined, Pike goes, the vein in my arm feels like it's about to bust. Krista Gilpike continued to blink on and off. She was smiling. She let out a couple laughs during this process. I saw a tear roll down her right eye. And then she said, one spot"

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"is really throbbing. And then she and her spiritual advisor started to talk. This is still within 734 to 737. They say, tell, I couldn't hear the name, but Pike says, tell blank. I love him."

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"Her spiritual advisor agrees or shakes his head at least. At 737, I recognize that she started to talk less, but she took four separate significant breaths, large enough to where you could see"

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"large enough to where you could see her body rising at points sort of on and off the gurney. At one point, she lifted her entire head up. This is about 739 and looked at her left arm, which also had an IV in it. I do want to note that almost the entire time she was kicking her feet so often that she was actually knocking the sheet that laid over her off, and one of the TDoc employees had to come and put that back on her."

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"The singing continued. The heavy breathing continued. You could start to see the belt across her chest move. This is at 741.30. It's important to note at 741.30, why that's so precise, is because that's when the rock was placed for the first time. We obviously don't know exactly what the rock means, but it signifies often that that's believed to be when the process begins to wait for her death."

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"Her jaws were moving at 743.28. At 744, she took a deep breath, said something that I couldn't hear. At 745, she took a very large yawn, like a yawn you can imagine just how large it was."

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"At 7.46 the curtain dropped for the first time. Three minutes later at 7.49 the curtain picked back up. That's when the snoring from Pike started. When they dropped the curtain they took her spiritual advisor out. At 7.49 they put her spiritual advisor back in the room."

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"Her lip quivered at one point it sounded like she was almost choking. At 7.51 the her snoring started again. I want to note while all of this is happening, we were hearing an alarm go off. We later determined it to most likely be the battery warning of TDoc employees' communication devices with inside the prison. The batteries were dying because they had been running for so long. And as we were waiting, their batteries and their microphones were dying. So much so that they were coordinating who could charge what and where and where was a plug-in to charge. At 7.54 she let out a loud grunt, lifted her head up, her mouth opened. The snoring then began again. Just before"

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"7.56 her body lifted off the gurney again. Both her head and her legs sort of like in a v-shape almost. At 8 o'clock the breathing became more faint for a second. She let out a heavy sign another sort. At 80106, the rock was placed for a second time. She's still audibly breathing in that snoring sound pattern. At 802, louder snoring started. At 803, it stopped for a second. The snoring then returned. She had a noticeable head and neck flex with every sound in that 803 to 805."

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"Again at 8.05 her body flexed as she gasped for air and then the curtain was abruptly drawn the second time. From there it was the process of hearing her snore in a pretty consistent pattern. You could hear doors opening and closing. Her lawyers were in and out. Her spiritual advisor was in and out from that point and then at 8.53 the mic was cut off after the warden said will the witnesses please exit the area? Any questions on my timeline?"

— Will Puckett • 00:00:00

"Pike said she was going to leave this world the way I spent most of my life, and that is in love. She said she had love for the people who were out here hating on her. She closed her statement with saying, quote, I'm at peace, I'm ready to be free. Then something about celebrating her freedom. And then she closed with, this is a happy day."

— Kim Chandler • 00:00:00

"The execution got underway. Her spiritual advisor sang with her a song. Couldn't hear the lyrics, but it repeatedly said, I love you. He stroked her head. I would say that Pike appeared notably awake as the execution began."

— Kim Chandler • 00:00:00

"uh loud exhales a couple of times she looked around the room at one point she looked towards prison officials and asked if it was supposed to feel that way"

— Kim Chandler • 00:00:00

"uh the blinds were closed to the execution execution chamber for the first time at 7 46 p.m — they opened again at 7 49 p.m — i have that they put the the rock up as a symbol of 750 50. Her mouth fell open a few times, but she began to loudly snore. She gasped a few times again and then loudly snoring. Rock came out at 8.01 and then she was still loudly snoring something like a groan here and there. Blinds, the curtain to the execution chamber closed for the final time at around 8 0 6 p.m. and she could be heard loudly snoring clearly very alive in the chamber until media witnesses were told to leave the area at about 8 53 p.m. any questions yeah"

— Kim Chandler • 00:00:00

"so the as has already been said the curtain opened for the first time at 7 27 and i don't have a note about her beginning to snore until after 7 45"

— Stephen Hale • 00:00:00

"and then at that point again as has been said she was not speaking anymore but was still snoring quite loudly breathing at some points her mouth was kind of gaping open"

— Stephen Hale • 00:00:00

"so again to repeat that the curtain was closed for the first time while She was still very clearly alive at 7.45, and then several minutes after that, according to my notes here, 7.54, she lifted her head off the table, or off the gurney, I should say, with her mouth open, kind of gasping, but not making the sound of gasping, but with her mouth that wide open."

— Stephen Hale • 00:00:00

"and then as my colleagues have said at a certain point the the curtain was closed again and I guess I would just say two things one is that the prison staff that were with us the the press communication staff that was with us was very professional and helpful to us but I cannot emphasize enough how much of whatever just happened happened behind a closed curtain when Krista Pike was still alive."

— Stephen Hale • 00:00:00

"We could still hear her breathing, but we could not see what was going on. And as my colleagues have stated, we asked the people we were in the room with why that was the case and if the curtain could be opened. And I don't think they were in the same boat as us, to be fair, they didn't seem to know more than we did. So I appreciated that they were trying, but a lot of this execution or attempted execution, whatever it was happened when we could not see what was going on — and that was after a long day where none of us knew what was going on as all of you know so i would just i would emphasize that do you have anything to add yeah and then we can take questions like"

— Stephen Hale • 00:00:00

"So what they do is they have a set of four syringes, one is saline, and then there's two syringes of 50 milliliters of pentobarbital. So what happens is the IV team determines the IV sites, IV team members insert the catheter, they establish access, then the special operations team leader ensures that the catheters are properly secured."

— Catherine Sweeney • 00:00:00

"uh yeah they establish access the physician can insert a central line if they need to and um then they just they push it and they can do a whole second batch if they need to again that's extremely rare this is an enormous dose of a sedative that should not — ever need to happen twice but it did and then she stayed alive i think one of the issues we have here"

— Catherine Sweeney • 00:00:00

"is the protocol doesn't talk about what happens if you do this twice and they're still alive. I don't think that that is something that was planned for. So there was no rules about when to open the curtain after a second time. This is pretty unprecedented. None of it should have happened, and it wasn't planned for. It made it really hard for the prison system to navigate, and it made it hard for us to understand what was going on. Of course, we got out here, and then you all saw the ambulance going away with sirens, So we can presume that there was somebody alive in that, but we don't know. We're not being told. So that's all I wanted to add. Thanks."

— Catherine Sweeney • 00:00:00

"um well i do know that for me the rock came out and generally by that point they're completely comatose looking — in the executions i've covered so far — i was circling she's still talking she's still talking in my notes — and then i heard them say bring the clergy back in which i've never seen before but that meant they're going to try again so we watched that happen and then they closed the curtain for the second time they always close that after the five-minute waiting period after the rock comes out and the curtain didn't open again we just listened as they said to her snoring and making very loud breathing sounds for almost an hour Yeah,"

— Catherine Sweeney • 00:00:00

"Correct, yeah. So we don't know if it was a line access problem or not, because the way they position the inmates, you're looking at their right side lying down, but just the side of them. And the IV is on their left arm, so you can't see the IV where it's placed or anything. And we also, again, don't see the IV being placed. The curtains are closed at that point. But"

— Tori Gessner • 00:00:00

"I mean, yeah, because they started the process, so that's way different than Carruthers."

— Tori Gessner • 00:00:00

"in the Carruthers execution they never opened the curtain and tonight they did open the curtain and at least from our vantage point which to Tori's point is not perfect but it appeared that they were proceeding with the process and we've mentioned this rock being set out that happened twice so they were administering something to her in some fashion whether that was happening successfully it seems like not but yeah they were they were there were ivs in her to some degree i don't know if that was not successful but you know but it it went further than the caruthers one on that front yeah definitely yeah yeah yes um if you give me a second i'll try to tell you more specifically but i mean definitely we could hear her it was more than an hour that we were in there and this whole process was going on but in terms of the final time the curtain closed i have — let's see"

— Stephen Hale • 00:00:00

"yes and so i have at 805 the curtain closed 805 or 806 right on that line and from then until they brought us out at 8 53 ish we could hear her loudly snoring and maybe someone has mentioned this but it was rhythmically too so it was it was just a steady snoring breathing sound that whole time which i guess is almost 50 minutes or a little less"

— Stephen Hale • 00:00:00

"Yes, yes, yes."

— Stephen Hale • 00:00:00

"I didn't think she was in distress, if you will, okay, with the breathing. I didn't, it was kind of forced, it was wheezy. We've said that. But it's not like toward the end there that she appeared to be in distress now Was it labored sure was it kind of snoring sure and that's not what we expected We thought it would get longer. There'd be Greater amounts of time between breasts the snoring would be loud There were moments when it was loud and you would think okay Maybe this is the moment when she's gonna slowly stop and that didn't happen"

— John North • 00:00:00