The State of Arizona has executed the first inmate in eight years.
Arizona convicted killer Clarence Dixon, 66 died by lethal injection at the state prison in Florence for the murder of 21-year-old Arizona State University student Deana Bowdoin in 1978. The completion of his sentence makes Dixon the sixth person to be executed in the U.S. in 2022.
Confirmation of Dixon’s death was announced late Wednesday morning by Frank Strada, a deputy director with Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.
Reportedly, Dixon’s last statement was: “The Arizona Supreme Court should follow the laws. They denied my appeals and petitions to change the outcome of this trial. I do and will always proclaim innocence. Now, let’s do this (expletive).”
The last Arizona prisoner execution took place in July 2014. Joseph Wood was given 15 doses of a two-drug combination in an execution that took over two hours. Wood reportedly snorted repeatedly and gasped more than 600 times before he died. His lawyers have claimed it was a botched execution.