Nearly 25 years after the fatal shooting of police officer William Toney, convicted killer Benjamin Ritchie was executed by lethal injection just after midnight Tuesday at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. But it was the disturbing description of his final moments that quickly sparked controversy across the United States.
Ritchie, 45, had been on death row since his 2002 conviction for killing Beech Grove police officer William Toney during a chase in 2000. After decades of appeals through both state and federal courts, his sentence was finally carried out despite last-minute efforts to stop the execution.
According to the Indiana Department of Correction, the execution process began shortly after midnight, and Ritchie was pronounced dead at 12:46 a.m. However, officials released very few details about what happened inside the execution chamber. Media witnesses were not allowed to observe the procedure directly, raising renewed questions about transparency surrounding executions in Indiana.
One of the few people allowed to witness the execution was defense attorney Steve Schutte, who later described shocking movements from Ritchie moments after the lethal drug pentobarbital was administered.
“He violently sat up — raised his shoulders — and twitched violently for about three seconds,” Schutte said immediately afterward. “Then he slowly relaxed back down and stopped moving.”
The attorney’s account has already fueled debate over whether lethal injection causes suffering despite being presented as a “humane” method of execution.
Schutte also described the emotional final moments before the execution began. According to him, when the curtains opened, Ritchie was strapped to a gurney but appeared calm. He reportedly lifted his head, smiled at the witnesses, and gestured toward them with his hand. Although he appeared to be speaking, no one could hear him because there was no audio system in the viewing room.
Ritchie’s final meal was Olive Garden’s “Tour of Italy.” His final words were brief but emotional:
“I love my family, my friends, and all the support I’ve gotten. I hope they all find peace.”
The execution moved forward after the U.S. Supreme Court denied Ritchie’s emergency request for a stay late Monday night. Indiana Governor Mike Braun also rejected a final clemency plea after receiving a unanimous recommendation from the state parole board to proceed with the execution.
In a statement released early Tuesday, Braun said the case had been reviewed numerous times over the years without any court overturning the death sentence.
“Since Benjamin Ritchie’s conviction in 2002, his case has been heard and reviewed numerous times by both state and federal courts, including the Indiana Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court,” Braun stated. “Today, Ritchie’s sentence has been carried out as ordered by the court.”
The case also drew national attention because Indiana bars independent media witnesses from directly observing executions. Reporters are only allowed to remain outside the prison unless invited personally by the condemned inmate to occupy one of five witness spots.
Ritchie reportedly selected four witnesses to attend: two attorneys, a litigation specialist, and an unidentified woman. A pastor was also permitted inside the execution chamber during the procedure.
