Executions by gas stalled indefinitely while state seeks willing seller of device

Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, left, and state Corrections Department Director Joe Allbaugh in March announce their intent to come up with a protocol to use nitrogen gas for state executions. [Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman Archives]

Ten months after abandoning lethal injection, frustrated Oklahoma officials have yet to find a way to execute inmates with nitrogen gas.

"I've got both arms tied behind my back," said Joe Allbaugh, director of the Oklahoma Corrections Department.

At issue is an inability so far to find a manufacturer of a gas delivery device willing to sell it for use in executions.

"They're all concerned and afraid of the same thing — every one of them — retribution, losing their business, protests," Allbaugh said in an interview last week. "They're concerned for their employees, the threats that come."