Officials maintained the killing had proceeded normally, stating the extended time was simply to allow murderer to make his final statements
Rapist and murderer Brian David Steckel was able to speak lucidly and clearly for minutes, despite having undergone the lethal injection.
The 36-year-old American, who had been convicted of the horrific rape and murder of 29-year-old Sandra Lee Long, was able to spend the final moments of his life speaking calmly to his family and witnesses, despite a cocktail of lethal drugs coursing through his body.
Witnesses to the execution report hearing audible clicks from the injection machine and convulsions, suggesting the drugs may not have worked as intended.
Delaware officials, however, maintained that the execution had proceeded normally, stating the extended time was simply to allow Steckel to make his final statements.
In his last words, Steckel expressed remorse and acceptance: “I walked in here without a fight, and I accept my punishment. It is time to go. I love you people… I’m at peace.”
Steckel had been convicted of the horrific 1994 rape and murder of 29-year-old Sandra Lee Long in Wilmington, Delaware.
In a truly terrible case, Steckel lured Long into her own apartment under the premise of boring her phone. When she refused his sexual advances, he attacked her, attempting to strangle her with pantyhose and a sock.
After sexually assaulting her, Steckel dragged her into a bedroom and set both her and the curtains on fire. Long died of smoke inhalation and burns covering 60 per cent of her body.
Following the brutal killing, Steckel’s chilling behaviour continued.
As the murder gained widespread media attention, he began taunting authorities as the self-styled “Driftwood Killer,” phoning threats to a potential next victim and the local newspaper.
Steckel would eventually be arrested while drunk on an outstanding harassment warrant, confessing to the crime the next morning.
At his trial, Steckel was convicted on multiple counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. During the penalty phase, he told jurors: “I ask you to hold me accountable for what I did… I know what I did was wrong: it was selfish [and] despicable.”
