Executed Murderer Was Given "experimental" Intravenous Doses Died Within 15 Minutes

An inmate sentenced to death took over 15 minutes do die after he was given a combination of drugs that has been never before tried in the U.S.

Dennis McGuire, a death row inmate, was given "experimental" intravenous doses of two drugs for the 1989 rape and fatal stabbing of a pregnant woman.

Before he was given the drugs, he thanked the victim's family for their "kind" letter he apparently received.

"I'm going to heaven, I'll see you there when you come," he added.

After he was given the dose, McGuire seemed to make a waving gesture to his daughter, son and daughter-in-law. More than a minute later he raised himself up, looked in the direction of his family and said, "I love you. I love you." Then he was still for almost five minutes, emitted a loud snort, as if snoring, and continued to make that sound over the next several minutes. He also soundlessly opened and shut his mouth several times as his stomach rose and fell.

His relatives observed her father's final moments in terror.

A coughing sound was Dennis McGuire's last apparent movement, and he was pronounced dead 10 minutes later.

McGuire, 53, was put to death for killing a newlywed who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death. The victim's family said they have forgiven him, but that "does not negate the need for him to pay for his actions".