The Botched Execution Of Pedro Medina

Wikimedia CommonsPedro Medina’s last words were: “I’m still innocent.”

A Cuban refugee who had fled to the United States in 1980, Pedro Medina initially moved to New Jersey but then settled in Florida. Found driving the car of his neighbor Dorothy James days after she was fatally stabbed in 1982, Medina was arrested and later sentenced to death for her murder.

All throughout his 15 years on death row, Medina adamantly denied murdering James. Still, much of the evidence pointed directly to him and he was ultimately sent to the electric chair on March 25, 1997. Shortly before his botched execution, Medina uttered what would be his final words.

“I’m still innocent.”

After Medina was placed in the electric chair, 2,000 volts of electricity surged through his body — and flames shot from his head. One reporter named Ron Word said “blue and orange flames up to a foot long shot from the right side” of the inmate’s head, “and flickered for 6 to 10 seconds.”

Word also added that “the smell of burnt flesh filled the witness room and lingered.” Another witness named Michael Minerva put it more succinctly: “They’re burning him alive.” He also added that “you could still smell burning flesh” in the room long after the flames were finally put out.

Minerva had witnessed five previous executions, but he admitted he’d never seen anything like Medina’s. That was only the case because Minerva hadn’t been present at the botched execution of Jesse Tafero in 1990. He had died in a grotesquely similar manner — in the very same state.

Just a few years later, Florida introduced lethal injection as a method for executions. And today, it’s the default execution method in the state. However, the electric chair is still offered as an option.

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