After more than two decades on death row and multiple requests to hasten his execution, an Arizona inmate is finally set to die by lethal injection.
Aaron Gunches, now 53, was convicted of the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Ted Price, his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend, in a remote Arizona desert, USA Today reported.
After pleading guilty in 2004, he consistently waived his rights to legal counsel and post-conviction appeals, insisting that his execution should proceed without delay.
However, legal complications, including a 2010 Arizona Supreme Court ruling that overturned his original death sentence, prolonged the case for years. In 2018, Gunches began directly petitioning state officials to carry out his execution, accusing Arizona of unnecessary delays.
The state's death penalty process was temporarily halted in 2023 for a review, further postponing his execution.
With Arizona's moratorium on the death penalty lifted, state officials have now scheduled Gunches' execution. He waived his right to a clemency hearing—one of his last opportunities for reprieve—reaffirming his longstanding desire to be put to death.
Gunches will be either the seventh or eighth inmate executed in the U.S. this year, depending on a separate execution scheduled in Louisiana. He will also be the first person executed in the state since 2022. Gunches' execution is scheduled for Wednesday.
