Overweight Death Row Inmate: "Shoot Me"

Ohio Killer Says His Weight Gain Isn't To Avoid Execution, His Veins Are Too Hard To Reach

(AP)  A double murderer scheduled to be executed next month in Ohio said Tuesday he has not deliberately gained weight to rule out his death by lethal injection.

Instead, Richard Cooey said in a death row interview that his execution cannot be carried out humanely under current state procedures because his veins are hard to reach.

"Vein access was an issue even when I was back in the service," Cooey, 41, said in an hour-long interview with the Associated Press at the Ohio State Penitentiary.

Cooey, 5-foot, 7 inches tall and 267 pounds, said he has gained perhaps 70 pounds while being locked up for raping and killing two University of Akron students 22 years ago while he was on leave from the U.S. Army. He blamed the weight gain on medication and lack of exercise.

"It's hard getting access to my veins," said Cooey, who was handcuffed and locked in a closet-sized visiting room. He spoke through a straw-sized slit in a reinforced glass partition.

Cooey said he has heard secondhand about comedians' jokes about the Ohio inmate who claims he's too fat to be executed.

But he says that ridicule reflects ignorance of his underlying claim that it's the inaccessibility of his veins that makes it difficult to get an IV inserted for a lethal injection.

The legal challenge is based on constitutional issues and not fear of execution, Cooey said. "It has nothing to do with weight gain," he said.

Instead of lethal injection, "If it would make people happy, shoot me in the head with a .45," Cooey said. "Do it legally."

Cooey and a co-defendant kidnapped Wendy Offredo, 21, and Dawn McCreery, 20, after disabling their car by dropping a chunk of concrete on it from a highway overpass. They choked and beat the women to death after repeatedly raping them, then carved X's in their abdomens.

Cooey deflected questions about remorse and said his past comments about the victims and their families had been misunderstood. "I can't come out good," he said.

Cooey wouldn't say if he would have something to say in the death chamber. He indicated there might be a new legal challenge to his execution, but he wouldn't detail any strategy because he didn't want to tip off prosecutors.

He reiterated claims he's made previously that he participated in crimes leading up to the slayings but denied beating the students to death. Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said his latest claims didn't merit further investigation.

Cooey, who would not discuss his prison life or his family, has been on death row since 1986.

[jlwesley]

I have been a paramedic for years, if they need someone to hit impossible veins, call me.

[squeakof2006]

He chocked and beat the women to death. Do the same to him. He rapped them. I''m sure they could find a nice baseball bat to shove up his *** during execution, unless they could find someone willing to rape him. In which case, tie him up, lay him out, and let him be raped multiple times, until they beat and chock him to death. He didn''t care about the victims'' constitutional rights. Why should we care about his? Kill them as they killed others. True justice.

[dagrandma]

star42333: "what really puts me in such total awe, isn''''t about what the article is about, as much as these comments about the article. to sit and think about all you mean, hateful, violent people that are actually free to run the streets. to know that i may be standing close to one of you somewhere out in public makes me tremble. the only difference i see is that, he had a violent thought first, and acted upon it second. your thoughts are no different than his, meaning you already took the 1st step. just a matter of time before you take the 2nd."

I''m about as non-violent as they get, but I would pull the trigger on this loser. Have you ever had someone you loved murdered????? I have. These people have NO RIGHT TO LIVE.

[troopergal-2009]

If they think it''s too inhumane because he''s too fat, then what about the victims, they didn''t die humanely. Why is it that the criminals have more rights than the victims?? He''s not sorry, he''s just sorry he got caught

[star53]

what really puts me in such total awe, isn''t about what the article is about, as much as these comments about the article. to sit and think about all you mean, hateful, violent people that are actually free to run the streets. to know that i may be standing close to one of you somewhere out in public makes me tremble. the only difference i see is that, he had a violent thought first, and acted upon it second. your thoughts are no different than his, meaning you already took the 1st step. just a matter of time before you take the 2nd

[tootall10142]

LET THE FAMILY OF THE VICTIMS HAVE HIM .ILL BET ONE OF THIER VETERAN RELATIVES COULD COME UP WITH ALL SORTS OF WAYS.I KNOW WHAT IVE BEEN TRAINED TO DO BUT THEY SAY NOW THAT IS INHUMANE. NO SHEEET IT WAS INHUMANE IN THE 60S BUT ALLOWED AS A MEANS OF OBTAINING INFORMATION.I CAN TURN A ROCK INTO A SINGING BILLBOARD FOR JUSTICE.

[stupidrules3]

Quit feeding him, Send him to "The Biggest Loser, Death Row Edition." Run his fat azz to death.

[grammawhamma]

Hang Him that is a choice he has actually. A needle, Rope or Gun Shot...pick your poison but get it over with.
Posted by txpatriot4us at 12:23 AM : Sep 18, 2008

Nope, those options won''t do. The needle won''t find the vein because of his excess weight. The rope won''t work because the stool they kick out from under him might break before they kick it. And a bullet might not be able to penetrate his thick skull. Burning at the stake might work...but oh yeah, he might feel the heat...never mind.

[grammawhamma]

Sure...his veins are too hard to reach. KissMyAss!! If he was in the emergency room having a cardiac arrest and his veins could not be reached to deliver a life saving drug...he would be the first one to cry law suit if he survived!

Half of these freakin death row whiners have bad veins from shooting up their drugs...did they mind the needle pokes then? Give me a break!!!!!

[txpatriot4us]

Hang Him that is a choice he has actually. A needle, Rope or Gun Shot...pick your poison but get it over with.

[CBSTV]

Wow ... lots of depraved comments. Why does this web page attract so many immoral people?

[airboatboy1]

Slowly cut his neck and find the juggler vein. Then inject him. Plus, you save a bullet!

[catlady1412]

They can just inject the site with lidocaine to numb it before digging around for that difficult vein. They do that to patients before surgery all the time. It really works!

[bob5ford]

So shoot him already! Should have done it 20 years ago!!

[fetuskarate]

This stupid fat f.u.c.k is complaining that he might feel pain as he dies? I hope his veins catch fire and screams the entire time.

[dagrandma]

fibonacci_89: I''m serious about this. I can''t comprehend how executing someone is more expensive than keeping him alive for 22 years. How did you arrive at that? I''d really, really like to know.

[fibonacci_89]

I am against the death penalty (I used to be for it) but if you people want to keep killing killers (or anyone you think is a killer) than please do as someone here suggested and just create a machine that smashes the person with one split second crush.

[fibonacci_89]

screw the value of life rants (but you guys dont mind scooping a fetus with a hanger)..and screw your more deaths in our culture ***..CONSIDER IT MORE AS A FINANCIAL NECESSITY..OF COURSE NOT UNLESS YOU WANT TO SPONSOR THIS FAT TUB OF LARD..(then you can take him home and let him babysit your kids ..for free)

Posted by libluv2spit

You are a worthless little Christian republican brain. Executing someone in America is more expensive than keeping them alive. And I do not like killing fetuses as you say. Take your Jesus glasses off and you will see more clearly.

[dagrandma]

I don''t want to shoot him. That would be cruel and inhuman. I want to drop a chunk of concrete on him from a highway overpass. Then I want to choke and beat him to death after repeatedly shoving an oversized zucchini up his a$$ and then carve an X in his big fat belly. Now THAT would be justice.

[fibonacci_89]

fibonacci_89

All life does not have value. How do you value Cooey''''s? The death penalty is way underused. It should be applied to many more crimes and it should be implemented quickly. If a few innocents go down by mistake, so be it. I don''''t believe anyone innocent gets caught up in a murder trial. If they didn''''t commit the murder/murders, they are guilty of something, so too bad. Maybe we should get rid of the police incase they might make a mistake and ticket an innocent driver!

There are too many people out there who are despicable criminals and they need to go to the chamber. They have no value as human beings and aren''''t worth the air they breathe or the gas they use.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by drivelphobe

You should have read the first sentence I wrote. What about innocent people you kill in the process?