William Happ, who expressed "agonizing shame" before his execution Tuesday night at Florida State Prison in Starke, was the first prisoner put to death in Florida using the common surgical anesthetic Versed, the Associated Press reported.
Versed caused Happ to lose consciousness. It was followed by a drug that induces paralysis , and finally one that causes cardiac arrest . The three drugs replaced one that is no longer available because Europeans who make the drug but object to capital punishment will no longer sell it for that purpose.
An Associated Press reporter who observed the execution wrote that it "appeared Happ remained conscious longer and made more body movements after losing consciousness than other people executed recently by lethal injection under the old formula."
Happ was convicted of the rape-murder of Angie Crowley in Crystal River 24 years ago.