Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Oklahoma executed a man convicted of killing four people in 2008, the state's attorney general announced Thursday.
"The state's execution of Gilbert Postelle was carried out with zero complications at 10:14 this morning," Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor tweeted.
"Justice is now served for Amy wright, James Alderson, Terry Smith, Donnie Swindle and the people of Oklahoma.
Postelle, 35, received the lethal injection at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Okla. The Oklahoman reported he declined to make a final statement, but he apologized for the murders during a December clemency hearing.
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Postelle was denied a stay of execution after challenging the drugs used in Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol. He and another death row prisoner -- Donald Grant -- said the state's use of midazolam was inappropriate.
The state executed Grant on Jan. 27.
Oklahoma and several other states use midazolam in their execution protocols as a sedative. The state then administers vecuronium bromide, a muscle relaxant, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The state announced Feb. 13, 2020, that it planned to resume executions nearly six years after the use of an incorrect drug led to the botched execution of a convicted murderer.
Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol came under scrutiny in 2014 when Clayton Lockett died of a heart attack amid complications during his execution.
Autopsy reports released a year later indicated Oklahoma corrections officials used the wrong drug -- potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride -- during the process. Lockett complained of a burning sensation and attempted to raise his head and speak after doctors declared he was unconscious.
The same incorrect drug was delivered to corrections officials for use in the planned 2015 execution of Richard Glossip. Former Gov. Mary Fallin called off Glossip's execution with a last-minute, indefinite stay after she learned of the discrepancy.
Oklahoma carried out two executions in 2021 after resuming the punishment, that of John Grant on Oct. 28 and Bigler Stouffer on Dec. 8.
