A Tennessee death row inmate whose execution is scheduled for Thursday night has chosen an unusual last meal – pickled pig’s knuckles and tails.
But Edmund Zagorski — who was sentenced to death for the 1984 murders of two men — has another matter to worry about after he consumes his pork-based meal.
The electric chair he’s scheduled to die in was built by a self-taught execution expert who worries that his device will malfunction.
Fred Leuchter had a successful career in the execution business before his reputation was tarnished when he claimed that there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz.
Tennessee’s chair, which hasn’t been used since 2007, is one of several execution devices Leuchter worked on between 1979 and 1990, Fordham University Professor Deborah Denno wrote in the William and Mary Law Review.
He also built, refurbished and consulted on gas chambers, lethal injection machines and a gallows for at least 27 states.
But after his comments about the concentration camp, it emerged that he had neither an engineering degree nor a license, even though he promoted himself as an engineer.
Nonetheless, Leuchter stands behind the chair he rebuilt in 1988 with skills he picked up designing navigational and surveillance equipment and a careful study of documents describing early executions.
His worry is that Tennessee’s chair will fail because of changes others made to it after he was no longer allowed to service it.
“What I’m worried about now is Tennessee’s got an electric chair that’s going to hurt someone or cause problems. And it’s got my name on it,” Leuchter said. “I don’t think it’s going to be humane.”
Originally scheduled to die by lethal injection, Zagorski, 63, fought to be put to death on the electric chair to avoid being administered a controversial drug used by the state.
His attorneys argued the lethal injection would make him spend the last few minutes of his life in “utter terror and agony” while the electric chair would only cause him “excruciating pain for (likely) 15-30 seconds,” CNN reported, citing court documents.
Gov. Bill Haslam delayed the earlier execution date so prison officials could prepare for an electrocution.
Death row inmates usually get $20 toward a special meal before they are put to death.
Zagorski initially requested no typical last meal ahead of his previously scheduled execution on Oct. 11, The Tennessean reported.
Zagorski has gotten along well with his fellow inmates, who pooled their resources to make a pizza dinner for him the last time he was on death watch, the paper reported.
With Post wires
