The first double execution in nearly 80 years was expected to take place early in the morning (Greek time) in Oklahoma, USA, despite the repeated appeals by both inmates seeking a stay of execution in order to be informed about the source of lethal injection drugs.

The two African-American convicts Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner were to be executed by lethal injection at 18:00 and 20:00 (US time) respectively on Tuesday. However the double execution has turned into a fiasco for the authorities.

A new untested three drug protocol was to be administered to the inmates. The drug combination included a sedative, an anaesthetic and a lethal dose of potassium chloride.

However, due to a vain failure, the first drug didn’t function properly. The next 20 minutes of the execution were terrible to behold, as the 38 year old inmate was writhing in pain before finally dying of a heart attack.

46-year old Warner’s execution that was scheduled for two hours later in the same room was postponed after the incident.

Lockett was convicted in 2000 for the rape and murder of a young woman he kidnapped, beat and buried alive. Charles Warner was convicted for the 1997 rape and murder of an 11-month-old girl.

“Despite repeated requests by counsel, the state has refused, again and again, to provide information about the source, purity, testing and efficacy of the drugs to be used. It’s not even known whether the drugs were purchased legally”, said Warner’s lawyer Madeline Cohen.