In 1998, Alva Campbell was sentenced to death for his crimes. At the time, no one could have imagined the fate that awaited him. Decades later, on death row, it wasn’t the same man facing execution by lethal injection. But a 69-year-old elderly man confined to a wheelchair with a colostomy bag, cancer, lung disease, asthma, and heart problems.

 On the day of his execution, officials attempted to administer a lethal injection. After nearly 80 minutes and four failed attempts to find a viable vein in his arms and legs, Campbell cried out in pain and distress. The governor ultimately called off the execution. Campbell died months later, still in prison. In this video, we’ll look at all the failed executions recorded in the United States.

 Get ready to uncover some of the most disturbing cases. Welcome to Criminal Records. [Music] Frank J. Copala was convicted for the brutal murder of Muriel Hatchel during a robbery in Virginia in 1978. He repeatedly struck her head until she died and fled with money and jewelry. After his arrest, he was sentenced to death.

 The execution was carried out in the electric chair on August 10th, 1982. It was one of the most shocking. After the first jolt, Copala’s head and leg caught fire, filling the chamber with smoke and a strong smell of burning flesh. Witnesses described how smoke poured from the mask, and the execution required two 55-second jolts.

 The staff struggled to control the fire, and the scene was so disturbing that some witnesses could not bear it. Copala died at 38 amid protests over the brutality of the method. [Music] John Evans was convicted of murdering a store owner during a robbery in Alabama in 1977. He was captured after a series of violent crimes and sentenced to death.

 The execution was carried out in the electric chair on May 4th, 1983. It was especially botched. The first jolt caused sparks, smoke, and the smell of burning flesh, but Evans did not die. A second jolt produced more smoke and odor, but his heart kept beating. Only after a third jolt was Evans declared dead after 24 minutes of agony. Witnesses were shocked by the visible suffering and the slowness of the procedure.

 Jimmy Lee Gray was convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and murdering a three-year-old girl in Mississippi in 1976. He already had a prior homicide record. He was arrested and sentenced to death. His execution was carried out in the gas chamber on September 2nd, 1983. The process was chaotic. Gray agonized for 8 minutes, banging his head against a steel pole as he suffocated.

 The executioner was drunk and did not follow protocol, which worsened the suffering. Witnesses described the scene as unbearable, and the state changed its execution method soon after. Alpha Otis Stevens murdered Roy Asel during a robbery in Georgia. He was arrested and sentenced to death. The electrocution on December 12th, 1984 was botched.

 The first jolt did not kill him and he remained conscious, breathing with difficulty for 8 minutes. Finally, a second jolt ended his life. The total agony lasted almost 20 minutes while witnesses watched him struggle to breathe and move. Steven Peter Morren was a serial killer responsible for multiple murders, mainly of young women.

 He was arrested and sentenced to death in Texas. His lethal injection execution in 1985 was botched. Technicians took 45 minutes to find a suitable vein due to his history of drug abuse. Morren remained calm, but the process was painful and humiliating with repeated failed attempts to insert the needle. William E.

 Vanderver murdered his father-in-law in Indiana during a family argument. He was arrested and sentenced to death. The electric chair execution in 1985 was botched. After the first jolt, Vanderver was still breathing. Five jolts in total were applied while smoke and the smell of burning flesh filled the room.

 The process lasted 17 minutes and the body was left charred. Raymond Landry murdered Cosmos Pritis during a robbery in Texas in 1982. He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 1988 was botched. The catheter came out and the lethal chemicals sprayed the room, forcing the procedure to be stopped and restarted.

 Landry died 40 minutes after being strapped to the gurnie after a confusing and distressing scene for witnesses. [Music] Steven McCoy participated in the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Cynthia Johnson in Texas in 1981. He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 1989 was botched.

 McCoy had a violent physical reaction, arching his body, gasping and convulsing. A witness fainted and others were shocked. The prosecutor admitted the dose may have been excessive or administered too quickly. Horus Franklin Duncan Jr. raped and murdered Lynn Mccur in Alabama in 1980. He was arrested and sentenced to death. The electrocution in 1989 was botched.

 A human error in connecting the wires meant the first jolt was not lethal. Duncan remained conscious and a second jolt was needed after 19 minutes of agony and confusion to kill him. Jesse Joseph Tafiro was convicted of murdering two police officers in Florida in 1976. He was arrested and sentenced to death.

 His execution on May 4th, 1990 is one of the most infamous botched electrocutions. When the current was activated, a synthetic sponge instead of the traditional natural one was used under the cap, causing the sponge to catch fire. Flames and smoke came from Tero<unk>’s head during each of the three jolts. Witnesses saw him move his head and fingers and breathe deeply between jolts, causing panic and horror in the room.

 The procedure, which normally lasts seconds, stretched to 7 minutes amid smoke, burning flesh, and confusion. Only after the third jolt was he declared dead. Wilbert Lee Evans murdered a sheriff during an escape attempt in Virginia in 1981. He was arrested and sentenced to death. On October 17th, 1990, he was executed in the electric chair.

 After the first jolt, witnesses reported that blood began to pour from his eyes, mouth, and nose, soaking the leather mask and his shirt. The bleeding was so intense that reporters described the scene as one of the most horrible ever seen in Virginia. Blood began to bubble and ran down his belly and shirt. However, the official prison record omitted these details and only noted the timing of the jolts and death.

 Ricky Ray Recctor murdered a man and a police officer in Arkansas in 1981, then attempted suicide and was left brain damaged. He was arrested and sentenced to death. He was executed on January 24th, 1992. The process was distressing. Technicians took more than 50 minutes to find a suitable vein while Rector confused, moaned, and moved. He did not understand the situation and even saved part of his dessert for later.

 Finally, the injection was administered and he died after a long wait in an execution that revealed the staff’s lack of preparation and sensitivity. Donald Eugene Harding murdered two men during a robbery in Arizona in 1980. He was arrested and sentenced to death. Harding was executed on April 6th, 1992. His agony in the gas chamber lasted more than 10 minutes.

After inhaling the gas, he began to convulse violently, writhed, banged on the glass, and his skin changed color. Witnesses described how he screamed and thrashed while staff watched helplessly. The process was so disturbing that Arizona abandoned the gas chamber as an execution method soon after.

 Robin Lee Parks murdered a gas station attendant during a robbery in Oklahoma in 1978. He was arrested and sentenced to death. Parks was executed on March 10th, 1992. The lethal injection was botched. For 11 minutes, Parks suffered violent spasms, gasps, and involuntary movements. Witnesses described the scene as painful and traumatic with Parks struggling to breathe, and his body shaking repeatedly before dying.

John Wayne Gayy was a serial killer who raped and murdered at least 33 young men in Illinois. He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 1994 was botched. What should have lasted 5 minutes stretched to 18 due to a blockage in the injection tube.

 Officials had to close the curtain while they fixed the problem, leaving witnesses without a direct view. Finally, the chemicals flowed and Gayy died. But the delay and clumsy handling of the procedure provoked criticism about the humanity of the [Music] method. Pedro Medina murdered a retired teacher during a robbery in Florida in 1982.

 He was arrested and sentenced to death. The electric chair execution in 1997 was botched. When the chair was activated, flames up to 12 in shot from his head, filling the chamber with smoke and an unbearable smell of burning flesh. Staff took several minutes to control the situation while witnesses watched as the fire consumed Medina’s skull.

 The scene was described as one of the most terrible in Florida’s execution history. Joseph L. Clark murdered David Manning during a robbery in Ohio in 1984. He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 2006 was botched. After the injection began, Clark’s vein collapsed and the chemicals began to seep outside the bloodstream.

 Clark, conscious, repeatedly said, “It don’t work.” Technicians tried for 30 minutes to find another vein, repeatedly sticking his arms and legs. The entire process lasted 90 minutes, and Clark showed signs of suffering until the end. Angel Diaz participated in the murder of a nightclub manager during a robbery in Florida in 1979.

 He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 2006, was botched. The catheterss were misplaced, injecting the chemicals into soft tissue instead of the vein. Diaz took 34 minutes to die, during which he moved, spoke, and showed signs of pain. Witnesses watched as his body shook and his skin changed color in one of Florida’s longest and most painful executions.

 Christopher Newton murdered his cellmate in Ohio in 2001. He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 2007 was botched. The process was especially long and painful as technicians took 2 hours and at least 10 attempts to find a suitable vein. Newton remained strapped and conscious throughout. Only after multiple attempts was the lethal injection administered and the execution completed.

 Romul Broom kidnapped, raped, and murdered a 14-year-old girl in Ohio in 1984. He was arrested and sentenced to death. Broom was subjected to lethal injection on September the 15th, 2009, but the process was suspended after two hours and more than 18 failed attempts to find a vein. Medical staff stuck him in arms, legs, ankles, and hands, causing pain and distress.

 Broom even helped look for veins, but it was impossible. Finally, the execution was cancelled, and Broom survived, describing the process as torture. He was never executed and died years later in [Music] prison. Dennis Maguire kidnapped, raped, and murdered a pregnant woman in Ohio in 1989.

 He was arrested and sentenced to death. Maguire was executed on January 16th, 2014 with an unprecedented cocktail of Midazolum and hydromemorphone as Ohio could not obtain pentobatital. After the injection, Maguire began gasping for air 4 minutes in. He emitted loud gasps, snorts, and choking sounds for at least 10 minutes. His stomach swelled unusually, and he clenched his fists while witnesses watched in horror.

 The process lasted more than 25 minutes, twice the usual time, before he was declared dead. The scene was so disturbing that Ohio suspended executions for more than 3 years after this case. Clayton D. Lockett kidnapped, raped, and murdered a 19-year-old woman in Oklahoma in 1999. He was arrested and sentenced to death.

 The lethal injection execution in 2014 was botched. Staff had great difficulty finding a vein, trying arms, neck, and collarbone without success. Finally, they inserted the needle into the groin, but did not have the right size needle. The fourth line was misplaced and the drugs infiltrated tissue instead of the vein. Lockett was not fully sedated and after the drugs were administered began convulsing, tried to sit up and screamed in pain.

The procedure was halted, but Lockett died of a heart attack 43 minutes after the execution began while witnesses watched the chaotic scene. Joseph R. Wood murdered his ex-girlfriend and her father in Arizona in 1989. He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 2014 was botched.

 The execution, which normally lasts about 10 minutes, stretched to almost 2 hours. Wood gasped, snorted, and struggled to breathe for 1 hour and 57 minutes with more than 600 gasps counted by witnesses. Prison officials looked nervous and Wood’s lawyers filed an emergency appeal while he was still agonizing.

 He was finally declared dead after an ordeal that left all present in shock. John Marian Grant murdered a prison cafeteria worker in Oklahoma in 1998. He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 2021 was botched. Immediately after the first drug was administered, Grant began to convulse violently, repeatedly arching his back off the gurnie.

 He then vomited several times while staff entered to clean his mouth and face. After 15 minutes of convulsions and vomiting, he was declared unconscious and the next drugs were administered. He died 6 minutes later, but witnesses described the scene as chaotic and traumatic. Joe Nathan James murdered his ex-girlfriend in Alabama in 1994 after months of stalking her.

 He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 2022 was botched. It was the longest and most painful recorded in the US. The execution team took more than 3 hours to find a vein, making multiple incisions and punctures in his arms, hands, and wrists. A private autopsy revealed deep cuts, bruises, and signs of extreme suffering.

James was finally executed, but the process was so chaotic and painful that experts called it torture. Authorities denied any irregularities, but medical and journalistic reports contradicted them. Alan Eugene Miller murdered three co-workers in Alabama in 1999. He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 2022 was botched.

 Staff tried for 90 minutes and made 18 punctures to find a vein in Miller without success. The procedure was suspended and Miller returned to his cell. In 2024, he was finally executed by nitrogen hypoxia, but the first failed execution exposed the lack of preparation and suffering caused by repeated IV attempts. Doyle Lee Ham murdered a motel clerk during a robbery in Alabama in 1987.

 He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 2018 was botched. Ham, suffering from cancer and collapsed veins, was subjected to a failed execution that lasted nearly 3 hours. Staff tried multiple times to access veins in his legs, ankles, and groin, even puncturing his bladder and femoral artery, causing heavy bleeding and extreme pain.

 Ham prayed and begged them to stop. Finally, the procedure was cancelled, and Ham survived, dying years later of natural causes. Alva Campbell murdered a young man during a carjacking in Ohio in 1997. After escaping custody, he was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 2017 was botched. After nearly 80 minutes of attempts and four punctures in his arms and legs, staff could not find a suitable vein.

Campbell, ill and in a wheelchair, cried out in pain and distress. The governor suspended the execution and Campbell died in prison months later. It was one of the few cases where the execution was cancelled after the process had begun. Ronald Bert Smith Jr. murdered a store clerk during a robbery in Alabama in 1994.

 He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 2016 was botched. After the first drug was administered, Smith began coughing, gasping, and struggling to breathe for 13 minutes, moving his arms, and clenching his fist. Staff conducted two consciousness checks before continuing with the next drugs. The execution lasted 34 minutes, much longer than usual, and witnesses described the scene as distressing and full of suffering.

 Thomas Creech is a serial killer with multiple victims, including the murder of a cellmate in Idaho in 1981. He was arrested and sentenced to death. The lethal injection execution in 2024 was botched. staff tried for more than an hour to find a suitable vein to execute Creech without success. They punctured arms, legs, and feet several times, but could not achieve IV access.

Finally, the execution was suspended and Creech returned to his cell where he remains awaiting a new execution