Condemned killer Scott Raymond Dozier is on suicide watch at Ely State Prison, NV. Prison guards resumed monitoring the 47-year-old death row inmate on November 14, which is when he was slated to die by lethal injection, SF Gate reported. Dozier was initially on suicide watch after James Dzurenda, Director of Nevada’s Department of Corrections (DOC), nixed the two-time killer’s voluntary execution on November 9.
Dzurenda’s decision to postpone the execution was precipitated by Clark County District Court Judge Jennifer Togliatti removing the cisatracurium, a paralytic drug, from the state’s intended death cocktail.
Nevada is awaiting the state’s Supreme Court to review and rule on the injection protocol to be administered in the delivery of capital punishment.
Judge removed paralytic from lethal injection drug mix
The state’s lethal injection protocol has not been previously used in the United States. Until November 9, the state planned on administered the cisatracurium, as well as diazepam and fentanyl. As a result of concerns that the paralytic could render Dozier incapable of signaling pain and could lead to suffocation, the judge removed cisatracurium from the three-drug execution mix.
Dozier wrote Judge Togliatti a handwritten letter, which was sent on November 13, asking that she remove the stay of execution issued as an effect of worries about the paralytic drug, KOLO 8 News reported.
He stated that he’s now “suffering” because of an “unnecessary delay,” according to Brooke Keast, the spokeswoman for NV DOC.
Murderer tells judge waiting for execution ‘seems unjust’
The condemned inmate also noted in his letter to the judge that he’s “been very clear” about volunteering to be executed. He has not wavered, he stated, “even if suffering is inevitable,” according to SF Gate.
The killer stated that it “seems unjust” that he must wait while the state’s highest court reviews the injection protocol. Mohave Valley Daily News reported, however, that it is not known when the court will review the case since no documents have been “submitted.” Additionally, no hearing has been scheduled by the high court.
The next district court hearing respective of the case is set for December 7 in Las Vegas. Dozier is scheduled to be the first of Nevada’s death row inmates who will be executed in the state’s new ADA-compliant $860,000 death chamber. He will also be the first inmate executed since Daryl Mack, who also volunteered for execution in 2006.
Death row inmate murdered twice
Dozier was given the death penalty in 2007 after he was convicted of murdering Jeremiah Miller, 22, in 2002. He also dismembered Miller, stuffed his torso in a suitcase, and tossed him in a trash dumpster. Dozier also murdered Jason Greene, 26. Greene’s body was discovered in 2002. His body was found in a plastic container, which had been dumped in the Arizona desert.
Nevada having problems getting execution drugs
Nevada is not unlike additional death penalty states that have scheduled executions. Both Nebraska and South Carolina have also had problems attaining drugs that have been used in prior capital punishments. The problem is that drug manufacturers fear retribution without shield laws in place. The pharmaceutical company Pfizer, for instance, recently requested that Nevada and Nebraska return fentanyl, as well as diazepam.
After receiving the demand, the Nevada DOC said that it is not returning drugs it purchased from Pfizer-affiliate Cardinal Health. Keast explained, in earlier news reports, the state isn’t obligated to give back pharmaceuticals that were bought legally.
