HLN’s Nancy Grace takes a look at the case of a death row inmate who claims he is too obese to be executed.
The Crime
Convicted murderer Ronald Post says he is too obese to be executed, weighing in at an incredible 486 lbs. The convicted man shot and killed
northern Ohio hotel clerk Helen Vantz nearly 30 years ago while robbing her of a measly $100. His fate is to be decided this week in court.
Torturous Lingering Death
According to Cleveland.com, the condemned inmate’s lawyers stated that he would face a “torturous and lingering death” due to the condemned prisoner’s host of health problems and morbid obesity. Post is scheduled for execution by lethal injection on January 16, 2013. Ronald Post’s lawyers are fighting for a stay of execution.
On Friday his lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Lesley Wells to stop his execution.
His attorneys, Rachel Troutman and Joseph Wilhelm, “said Post has repeatedly expressed a desire to lose weight. In 1996, he asked the state prison system for medication to help him.
Gastric Bypass?
The attorneys said a medical director denied a request for gastric bypass surgery, saying it was “not medically necessary.” The request was about two years before his execution date was set. Is it medically necessary now?
Up To 16 Hours
Post was exercising on a prison bicycle until it collapsed under his weight! He then started using a walker but had to stop because he was a fall risk. Post is now confined to a wheelchair. What size wheelchair is he using? The lawyers for Post are crying “cruel and unusual punishment” if the execution goes as scheduled this coming January. Post’s attorney stated “If it kills him at
all, it could take up to 16 hours.”
Alternative Methods?
Post, at almost 500 lbs. is too large to fit on a gurney and “medical personnel have struggled for years to find his veins when attempting to treat him” for his various medical conditions. William Vantz, son of the murdered hotel clerk, states “I don’t care if they have to wheel him in on a tractor-trailer; 30 years is too long. Enough is enough. This is just an excuse to get out of the execution.” Aren’t there any other alternative execution methods available for use under circumstances such as this?
