MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CRIME & JUSTICE

Child killer Frank Atwood HELPED executioners find his veins for lethal injection

Frank Atwood, 66, was ultimately put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday, June 8, for the 1984 kidnapping and murder of eight-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson

FLORENCE, ARIZONA: An Arizona man who was sentenced to death remained strapped to a gurney for about half an hour as executioners struggled to get a needle into his veins. Frank Atwood, 66, was ultimately put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday, June 8, for the 1984 kidnapping and murder of eight-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson. Hoskinson's body was found in the Tucson desert months after she went missing.

Jimmy Jenkins, a reporter for Arizona Central, was sitting in an observation room at Arizona State Prison in Florence when Atwood was being put to death. In a series of tweets, he described how Atwood himself instructed his executioners how to get a needle into his veins.

READ MORE

The HORRIFYING story of Shasta Groene: An 8-yr-old's brutal ordeal with 'Night Vision Killer'

Who was last inmate to be executed by gas in Arizona? State plans to use lethal gas once used at Auschwitz

"I just watched Frank Atwood direct the state of Arizona on how to insert IVs into his veins properly so they could administer the drugs that would kill him," Jenkins wrote. "We watched on monitors in the execution chamber as the execution team lifted him onto the gurney and restrained him. A pillow was placed under his head to help him deal with the pain brought on by a spinal condition. He was shackled, arms spread out on either side of the gurney."

Untill his death, Atwood had maintained that he was innocent. His lawyers argued that strapping him on his back to a gurney would be extremely painful for him because of his degenerative spinal condition. The lawyers also told the Supreme Court that the aggravating factor that made his crime eligible for the death penalty was applied invalidly. However, judges rejected that argument. 

"After a few minutes and what appeared to be several attempts, the execution team inserted an IV and catheter into Atwood's left arm. Then they wheeled the cart to the other side of his body, and told him they were going insert an IV into his femoral vein," Jenkins wrote on Twitter. "Why?" Atwood asked. "They draw blood from my left arm with no problem all the time," he told the team. Atwood already appeared to be grimacing and in some pain from the time spent strapped to the gurney. He clearly did not want the process to go on longer than it had to."

Atwood had been on death row in Arizona for over 35 years. After his victim Vicki's body was found seven months after she vanished, experts could not determine the cause of her death. Authorities, however, maintained that Atwood had kidnapped and murdered her. He was previously also convicted of sexually assaulting a seven-year-old boy.

"The team did not say why they wanted to put the second line into his femoral vein. But they told Atwood they would try and insert it into his right arm - as he had suggested. THE EXECUTION TEAM WAS TAKING DIRECTION FROM THE MAN THEY WERE ATTEMPTING TO EXECUTE," Jenkins tweeted. "The execution team tried and failed to get the IV into his right arm several times. One of the execution team members shook his head in frustration. "I don't understand" Atwood said, "they've never had this problem before.""

"Again the execution team suggested going into Atwood's groin to put the second IV into his femoral vein. "Could you try the hand?" Atwood suggested, nodding to his restrained right hand and wiggling his fingers. "They have been able to go in there before as well," Jenkins added. "The IV team members looked at each other, looked at Atwood, looked at each other again, and said "Sure, we'll give that a try." ONCE AGAIN THE EXECUTION TEAM MEMBERS RELIED ON ADVICE FROM THE MAN THEY WERE TRYING TO EXECUTE."

Executioners then finally successfully put him to death. "It worked. Atwood was right. They were able to get the IV into a vein on his hand. They execution team secured the second IV and catheter, taped everything down, attached the tubes which connect to the drugs, and left the room. By my estimate the process took around 30 minutes," Jenkins wrote. 

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich released a statement on Atwood's execution, saying, "To an innocent child whose life was brutally taken and a family that has had to endure decades of suffering, Arizonans will never forget. Today, we remember Vicki Lynne and stand together with her loved ones and the Tucson community as their unwavering quest for justice is finally realized.”