An Arizona man, Aaron Brian Gunches, was executed on Wednesday for the kidnapping and murder of his girlfriend’s ex-husband, Ted Price. Gunches, 53, received a lethal injection of pentobarbital at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence, after being pronounced dead at 10.33 am local time.
The crime took place in 2002 when Gunches shot Price in the desert near Mesa. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 2007 and had been on death row since. Despite initially being scheduled for execution in April 2023, the process was postponed due to a review of the state’s death penalty protocols ordered by Governor Katie Hobbs. Following personnel changes and further reviews, Gunches’ execution was reinstated.
Witnesses reported that the execution was carried out smoothly, with Gunches showing no signs of distress. He did not have any final words and was pronounced dead 17 minutes after the injection began. Gunches’ last meal consisted of items such as a double western bacon cheeseburger, sandwiches, fries, onion rings, and baklava.
Arizona’s execution of Gunches marks the state as the first with a Democratic governor to conduct an execution since 2017. On the same week, another execution occurred in Louisiana, with additional executions scheduled in Florida and Oklahoma. The Arizona Attorney General, Kris Mayes, commented that the family of Ted Price had been seeking justice for over two decades and deserved closure.
The events leading up to Price’s murder involved a domestic dispute, with Price’s ex-wife hitting him during an argument. Gunches, who later arrived at the scene, orchestrated an ill-fated plan to transport Price to a bus station but instead drove him to a remote area where he was fatally shot. Gunches was arrested in 2003 after a violent incident with law enforcement, which ultimately linked him to Price’s murder through ballistic evidence.
With Gunches now executed, discussions surrounding the ethical implications of the death penalty and the processes involved continue to resonate in the broader context of justice in America.