Wood, 55, was sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend and her father in 1989.
According to one eyewitness who wrote a piece for The Guardian on the execution, Wood appeared to be ‘choking’ and let out ‘660 gasps’ for air before being pronounced dead.
The controversy comes after another convict, Clayton Lockett, took 45 minutes to die when executed in Oklahoma in April.
The process took so long in Wood’s case that his lawyers tried to intervene for it cease around halfway through.
However, Arizona Governor Mrs Jan Brewer insists that Wood’s death was lawful, and pointedly compared his suffering to those of his victims and their families.
The state corrections department maintained he was deeply sedated throughout.
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