Top 3 Botched Executions in Florida using Old Sparky. If you want to search for the guy that is #1, his bloody pictures are out there on google. It's not hard to find.
00:00Hello and welcome to the Dark Mystery Lounge.
00:03Today we are going to do something a little different.
00:05As you know, I've talked about some death row cases here on this channel, mainly in Florida.
00:10I'm more partial to talking about cases in Florida because, well, this is my home.
00:14As crazy as this state can be, there's no shortage of cases and topics to talk about.
00:19The state of Florida has executed quite a lot of animates over the years,
00:23mainly by electric chair, nicknamed Old Sparky.
00:26There are other states with the same name for their electric chair,
00:29but some states wanted to have a different nickname like Alabama called theirs the Yellow Mama.
00:34From 1924 to the year 1999, Florida's primary method of execution was the electric chair,
00:40and the death house where all the inmates go for execution is to the prison on the outskirts of Stark, Florida.
00:47In total, 44 inmates had to face Old Sparky, 43 men and one woman.
00:52With all those executions, something is bound to go wrong.
00:55We are going to take a look at the top three botched executions, a.k.a. three times Old Sparky screwed up.
01:02Pedro Medina was a Cuban immigrant who was among the nearly 125,000 Cubans who were sent to the U.S. during the 1980 Muriel boat lift.
01:19He went to live with his half-sister in Orlando.
01:21He met Dorothy James, who was an elementary school gym teacher that lived in the apartment next door.
01:27Dorothy befriended Pedro.
01:29On the morning of April 4, 1982, Dorothy was found dead in her apartment.
01:33She had been gagged, stabbed multiple times, and left to die.
01:37Early morning on April 8, 1982, Pedro was found asleep in Dorothy's car at a rest area on Interstate 10 near Lake City.
01:45He was arrested for stealing the car.
01:47Meanwhile, detectives were investigating the murder of Dorothy James.
01:51They interviewed Pedro about the murder and the car, but his explanation wasn't believed by the detectives.
01:56He was charged for first-degree murder.
01:59Pedro requested a psychiatric examination and was examined by two psychiatrists.
02:04They both concluded that he was competent to stand trial.
02:07This trial was from March 15th to the 18th of 1983.
02:11Pedro testified in his own defense and denied murdering Dorothy,
02:15but he admitted to being in Dorothy's apartment the night of the murder
02:19and that he was in Dorothy's apartment when she was dead.
02:22He also admitted that the hat that was found in her apartment was his
02:27and that he took Dorothy's car after the murder.
02:30Pedro also admitted that he drove to Tampa to try and sell her car to a man who offered him $250.
02:37Pedro took the money from the guy and sped off in Dorothy's car.
02:41Oh, and a knife was found in the car as well.
02:44Pedro Medina was convicted of first-degree murder and auto theft.
02:47The jury, by a 10-2 vote, recommended the death penalty.
02:51He was sent to death row in Stark.
02:53On March 25th, 1997, Pedro was brought to the execution chamber and strapped down into old Sparky.
03:00His last words were,
03:01I am still innocent.
03:03As the switch was flipped to start the electrical current, something malfunctioned.
03:07All of a sudden, a burst of flames shot up from Pedro's head.
03:10The smell of burning flesh filled the room as smoke was rising from the electrodes.
03:15Old Sparky was turned off, but some witnesses say that even after the chair was turned off,
03:20they saw three labored breaths and Pedro's left hand gripped the chair.
03:25According to autopsy reports, his death was instantaneous due to massive depolarization of the brain and brainstem
03:32when the first jolt of electricity surged through Pedro's body.
03:36A neurologist testified the apparent breathing movements were likely caused by the last vestiges of survival in the brainstem
03:44after the brain itself has died.
03:46Later on, it was found that the sponge that is normally soaked in saline
03:50that is placed on the head before the headpiece is strapped on wasn't soaked properly.
03:55Jesse Tafaro, his girlfriend Sonia Jacobs, their two children, and their friend Walter Rhodes were traveling on I-95.
04:10They stopped off at a rest area to get some sleep.
04:12On the morning of February 20, 1976, police officer Philip Black and a visiting Canadian constable,
04:19Donald Irwin, approached the vehicle.
04:21They spotted a gun on the floor of the car and decided to wake them up.
04:25Officer Black woke them up.
04:27Jesse and Walter came out of the car.
04:29According to Walter, Jesse shot them both.
04:31But Jesse claimed Walter did it since that was his gun.
04:34Jesse, Sonia, and Walter stole the police car fleeing the scene.
04:39Later, they ditched the police car, kidnapped a man, and stole his car.
04:43All three were arrested after being caught in a roadblock.
04:46When they were arrested, the gun was found in Jesse's waistband.
04:50A gunpowder test found residue on Walter consisted of having discharged a weapon.
04:55Residue on Jesse consisted with handling an unclean or recently discharged weapon, or possibly discharging a weapon.
05:02As well as residue on Sonia and her son consisted with having handled an unclean or recently discharged weapon.
05:10Walter entered into a plea agreement for reduced sentence of second-degree murder in exchange for his testimony against Jesse and Sonia.
05:17Both Jesse and Sonia were charged with capital murder and sentenced to death, while Walter was sentenced to three life terms.
05:24On May 4, 1990, Jesse Tafaro was taken to the death chamber and strapped down into Old Sparky.
05:31But something went terribly wrong.
05:33Old Sparky malfunctioned, causing six-inch flames to shoot out of Jesse's head.
05:37A member of the execution team had used a synthetic sponge rather than a sea sponge, which is necessary for providing greater conductivity and a quick death.
05:47In all, three jolts of electricity were required to execute Jesse.
05:51The whole process took seven minutes.
05:53Some inmates claimed that the chair was tampered with to torture Jesse.
05:57As much as Jesse's execution was nightmare fuel for everyone who witnessed it and painful for Jesse, what was more painful is that it was found that he was wrongfully convicted.
06:08Walter Rhodes admitted later that he was the one who shot and killed the officers.
06:12He was faroled in 1994.
06:14Sonia's sentence was reduced to life in prison, then took an offer plea for second-degree murder, and was released from prison in 1992.
06:21It has been rumored that Jesse's death served as inspiration for author Stephen King when he wrote the execution of Edward Delacroix in his novel The Green Mile.
06:38Alan Lee Davis was a murderer that killed Nancy Wyler, who was three months pregnant at the time, on May 11, 1982.
06:46He beat her face and head with a .357 Magnum 25 times.
06:51She was beaten beyond recognition.
06:53He also killed Nancy's nine-year-old daughter Christina, shooting her in the face twice, and killed her five-year-old daughter Catherine, who was shot as she tried to run away, and then had her skull beaten in with the same gun.
07:05He was on parole for armed robbery, plus he had a criminal history of child molestation, so it was only a matter of time before he would meet up with old Sparky.
07:13He later admitted that his initial motive was to rape and murder Christina, kill her sister and mother, and then ransack the house.
07:21His last meal consisted of one lobster tail, fried potatoes, a half pound of shrimp, six ounces of fried clams, half a loaf of garlic bread, and a 32-ounce bottle of A&W root beer.
07:34On July 8, 1999, Allen was escorted to the execution chamber, but he would not be sitting in the original old Sparky.
07:42This was the new and improved electric chair.
07:44This chair was able to accommodate the 5'10", 344-pound frame of Allen Davis.
07:50He roared unintelligibly twice, after a strap was wrapped tightly across his mouth, and his head was covered with a skull cap and hood.
07:59After the electrocution lever was pulled at 7.10 a.m., Davis' back straightened, his hands clenched, and his chest seemed to expand.
08:07His body came to rest, and blood appeared from the front of his shirt.
08:11Initially, a red dot appeared at the center of his chest.
08:14The strain slowly grew to a splotch around eight inches across.
08:18His chest heaved repeatedly.
08:20He appeared to be alive, but he was pronounced dead at 7.15 a.m.
08:24According to witnesses, Allen's nose started bleeding before the lever was pulled because of the blood center medication he was taking for a heart condition.
08:32He suffered burns on his head, leg, and groin area during the course of his electrocution.
08:38Due to the botched electrocution of Allen Lee Davis, Florida halted electrocution for a short period of time.
08:44The state of Florida heard a petition from Thomas Provenzano, another death row inmate, that argued that the electric chair was a cruel and unusual punishment.
08:53Allen Davis was the last Florida inmate executed by the electric chair.
08:57Since the year 2000, Florida's primary method of execution is lethal injection, but death row inmates have an option of choosing the electric chair.
09:07So far, no one has chosen that option.
09:09I can't say I blame him.
09:10To be honest, if it's done right, the electric chair can be quick and painless.
09:14I mean, Ted Bundy and Judy Buenoano had successful executions with no issues.
09:19And to me, riding the lightning sounds far more terrifying than facing the needle.
09:24But maybe that's just me.
09:26Thank you for hanging out with me in the Dark Mystery Lounge.
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