Vatican Decries Man’s Fiery Execution in Electric Chair

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —  The Vatican on Wednesday condemned as barbaric the execution of a convicted murderer whose black leather face mask erupted in flames when power surged through the electric chair.

Pedro Medina, a Cuban refugee convicted of stabbing a teacher who had befriended him, was “burned alive like a torch” Tuesday, the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano said.

Pope John Paul II had made a plea for mercy for Medina, who came to the United States in the 1980 Mariel boat lift.

A day after state Atty. Gen. Bob Butterworth had cited the horrible death as a possible deterrent to murder, he proposed a law Wednesday to allow lethal injection as an option for executions. Injection is used by 34 of the 38 states with capital punishment. Gov. Lawton Chiles said he would consider switching to some alternative to the chair.

But some lawmakers seemed more in sync with Butterworth’s comments of the previous day, saying switching to another method would just delay executions and not be fit punishment.

“A painless death is not punishment,” said Locke Burt, the Senate’s Republican majority leader. “I think it’s important that there is a deterrent and a punishment element.”

Medina was executed for the 1982 murder of Dorothy James, a teacher who befriended the Cuban immigrant after he arrived in the United States.

She “was stabbed 10 times, a rag stuffed in her mouth and left to die. We often forget the victims,” said Senate President Toni Jennings.

James’ daughter, Lindi, opposed the execution, saying she never believed that Medina killed her mother. His last words were: “I am still innocent.”

Flames shot from the right side of Pedro Medina’s black mask when he was electrocuted. Witnesses later said they were nauseated by the sight and smell of burning flesh.

The problem probably came from a sponge in the helmet, officials said.