Oklahoma prepares for execution of 2 inmates

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) – Oklahoma is preparing to use a new lethal injection formula on two death row inmates who are scheduled to die in the state’s first double execution since 1937.

Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner both are scheduled to be executed Tuesday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

It is the first time in nearly 80 years that two men have been executed on the same day in Oklahoma, although it has happened in other states since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The last double execution was in Texas in 2000.

It is also the first time Oklahoma has used the sedative midazolam as the first in a three-drug combination.

Lockett and Warner had sued the state over the secrecy of its execution protocol.