An execution on live television?

In December 1980, Wayne and Buren Shinn were ambushed at Wayne’s home in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, after responding to a burglar alarm. Wayne was executed with a gunshot to the head, while his father Buren was also shot but survived by playing dead. The killer, later identified as David Lawson, stole valuables from the home and even took Buren’s wallet while he lay motionless. Lawson’s girlfriend, Phyliss Soden, eventually came forward and revealed his confession, which included eliminating witnesses to avoid returning to prison. Lawson, who had a troubled childhood and a long criminal history, was arrested and went on trial in June 1981. Both Soden and Buren testified against him, and the jury quickly convicted him of murder. Lawson requested the death penalty and chose to die by gas chamber rather than lethal injection, arguing it would show the brutality of execution. On June 15, 1994, he was executed in North Carolina’s gas chamber in a disturbing scene where he thrashed, screamed, and repeatedly cried out “I’m human.” His execution was the first in the state by gas chamber in 25 years and so disturbing that the warden resigned afterward. Four years later, North Carolina banned gas chamber executions, leaving lethal injection as the only method.

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