Autopsy doesn’t say why Oklahoma inmate writhed

By TIM TALLEY

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – An autopsy report on an Oklahoma inmate who died following a troubled execution concludes he succumbed to the lethal drugs he was administered.

But an attorney for death row inmates says it doesn’t explain why Clayton Lockett writhed, moaned and clenched his teeth before he was pronounced dead more than 40 minutes after his execution began.

Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton had said Lockett died from a heart attack several minutes after he ordered the execution stopped. But an independent autopsy performed for the Department of Public Safety that was released Thursday concluded the cause of death was "judicial execution by lethal injection."

Attorney Dale Baich says the report doesn’t explain what went wrong with Lockett’s execution.