Richard Cooey

Cooey was born in Akron, Ohio. He lived in Stow with his parents until they divorced when he was 11. He spent his junior high years and high school years between Stow, with his father, and Akron, with his paternal grandmother. Cooey graduated from Stow High School in 1985 and enlisted in the U.S. Army. The following summer, he returned on leave. ==Case==

Early on the morning of September 1, 1986, Cooey, Dickens and Kenneth Horonetz Jr. were throwing chunks of concrete off the Stoner Street Bridge onto U.S. Interstate 77 in Akron. They also carved X's into the victims' abdomens. Cooey and Dickens each blamed the other for the actual murders, and is serving a life sentence in prison. Horonetz, then age 18, for participating in the destruction of evidence. Grant was sentenced to two years' probation. Horonetz was released on parole after serving one year of a three-to-fifteen year prison sentence for felonious assault. Cooey later claimed that he did not kill or beat anyone. He admitted to raping the women, claiming he did "rape under duress". He also stated that he was under the influence of alcohol and illegal drugs, such as cocaine and opium, at the time. ==Execution==

Cooey was confined at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. He was originally scheduled to be executed on July 24, 2003, but the execution was stayed to allow further investigation of his case. In February 2005 he attempted to escape. Cooey argued that his obesity rendered lethal injection an inhumane form of execution because (he claimed) his clogged veins would prevent the first drug administered during the executionmeant to render the prisoner insensiblefrom having full effect. He also claimed that prison food was responsible for his obesity. The argument was rejected and he was executed on October 14, 2008. ==See also==