Journal-News.com

LUCASVILLE, Ohio — A man was executed Thursday after a delay longer than any other since Ohio resumed executions in 1999 because of problems with the lethal injection, which he had insisted on as punishment for beating and choking a cellmate to death.

Christopher Newton, 37, died at 11:53 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correction Facility, about two hours after the scheduled start of his execution for killing the cellmate after arguing over a chess game.

Newton weighed at least 265 pounds, and prison medical staff struggled to find veins on each arm. The execution team stuck him at least 10 times with needles to get in place the shunts where the needles are injected.

He continued to talk, smile and laugh with the prison staff; sometimes his belly would jiggle. At one point, he was given a bathroom break.