Nebraska this morning carried out its first execution since 1997, using experimental drugs to take the life of a convicted killer whose identical twin had at one time swapped places with his condemned brother on death row.
Carey Dean Moore, 60, was pronounced dead at 10.47am local time at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln after being injected with a never-before-tried cocktail of four different drugs, among them the highly addictive opioid fentanyl.
When asked if he wished to say something, the condemned man replied: ‘Just the statement that I delivered to you about my brother Donny and the innocent people Nebraska’s death row.’
Witnesses to the execution later told reporters that Moore mouthed ‘I love you’ several times to the crowd in the room and his face turned red, then purple before drawing his last breath.
Moore was sentenced to die for the 1979 shooting deaths of two Omaha cab drivers, Maynard Helgeland and Reuel Van Ness Jr., and was one of the nation’s longest-serving death row inmates.
The inmate had three witnesses and a clergyman, but they have not been named. In all, there were 10 people watching the execution, but none of the victims’ family members were in attendance.
Tuesday’s execution marked the first lethal injection in Nebraska, which last carried out the death penalty by using the electric chair.
Moore has had execution dates set seven previous times. This time, he has stopped fighting the state’s efforts to execute him.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, a Republican and a wealthy former businessman, helped finance a ballot drive to reinstate capital punishment after lawmakers overrode his veto in 2015.
Nebraska death-row inmate Carey Dean Moore, 60, was executed by lethal injection at 10.47am on Tueaday for the 1979 murders of two Omaha cab drivers
His administration then changed Nebraska’s lethal injection protocol to overcome challenges in purchasing the necessary drugs and withheld records previously considered public that would identify the state’s supplier.
Last week, Moore’s identical twin, David, said he was planning to watch his brother’s execution.
The siblings made headlines in 1984 when they found themselves in the same prison and they swapped places for several hours before being caught.
David had been locked up for four to six years on burglary charges. They convinced prison guards to let them have a private meeting to discuss a ‘family matter’ and changed clothes while none were looking.

Carey and his identical twin, David (pictured holding brother’s photo), were both at Nebraska State Penitentiary when, in 1984, they swapped clothes after convincing guards to let them have a private family meeting. David went back to his brother’s death row cell and Carey went to the kitchen
Afterwards, David was led to his brother’s death row cell and Carey was taken to the kitchen, where David had a job.
They were found out by the guard who was supervising the kitchen who knew that David was thinner than his brother. The other clue was that Carey did not know where to put away the pots and pans.
At the time, prison guards did not know if the switch was a prank or if the brothers were plotting an escape.
They deduced that it was part of a grander escape plan but neither brother admitted to it once they were caught.
‘Maybe Carey Dean wanted to get out of death row for awhile because it’s pretty restrictive.
‘Maybe he wanted to get out for awhile to break the boredom of death row and do something like pitch horseshoes,’ said John Dahm, assistant director of the state corrections department, told The Associated Press at the time.
Adding that it was the ‘obvious conclusion’ the pair were plotting an escape, he added: ‘Both have been in trouble often with the law and I don’t think they are considered funny or pranksters.’
The prison guard who caught the pair before they could carry out any such plan said at the time was Bob Austin.
He said he became suspicious when, after the meeting, the heavier, ‘ruddier’ twin came back to the kitchen to work.
‘Unless you saw them every day, you couldn’t tell them apart. They’re awfully close, but Carey Dean is probably 10 to 15 pounds heavier and he’s got a ruddier complexion,’ he said.
The other clue was that Carey did not know where to put the pots and pans.

The brothers’ attempt to switch places was reported in 1984. Above, an article about their stunt which appeared in The New York Times
‘David would have known where to put the pan. But I probably wouldn’t have picked it up if we hadn’t had the other clues,’ he said.
Their punishment was a temporary ban on seeing each other in the prison.
David was later released and his brother was sent to the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution.
The pair had grown up poor in a family of 13 and turned to crime to get by as teenagers.


In 1979, Carey Dean murdered cab drivers Maynard Helgeland (left) and Reuel Van Ness (right) within days of each other and robbed both men
‘Unfortunately, we didn’t learn to respect people before something really bad happened,’ David said in the run-up to his brother’s execution. ‘Back then we were both animals. We weren’t fit to be allowed in society, I guess.’
Since 1980, when he was sentenced, Carey’s execution has been delayed by repeated stays and controversies over Nebraska’s use of capital punishment.
In July, his execution date was finally set for August 14, weeks before the state’s supply of the drug that will be used to kill him expires.
Since he was convicted, he has been given seven execution dates which have all been set back by delays out of his control.
They include lawsuits against Nebraska by anti-capital punishment groups demanding to know who the supplier of their lethal injections drugs are.
A last-minute lawsuit from German pharmaceutical company Fresenius Kabi also failed to stop the execution. The company accused state officials of improperly using its drugs, but a judge said he wouldn’t delay the execution. The state had noted that one of its execution drugs was set to expire on August 31 and that prison officials wouldn’t be able to purchase more.

Carey Dean Moore is pictured in a 2007 prison photograph. He has been in jail since 1979
Lawmakers abolished capital punishment in 2015 by narrowly voting to override Governor Ricketts’ veto of the legislation. Some legislators expressed doubt at the time that Nebraska would carry out an execution ever again because of costly legal challenges.
That prompted Ricketts to ask for more time to set one in motion. He eventually contributed $300,000 of his own money to a petition drive organized by several close associates to place the issue on the November 2016 general election ballot. The governor’s father, TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, also donated $100,000 to the effort.
Nebraskans for the Death Penalty raised a total of $1.3million. The group was outspent by a death penalty opposition group that received nearly $2.7million, but the reinstatement measure won support from 61 per cent of voters.
Death penalty supporters said the Legislature’s vote was a fluke that didn’t represent the will of voters in the overwhelmingly conservative state. Some moderate, Republican lawmakers who previously voiced support for capital punishment but then voted to repeal it lost their seats in the 2016 election after Ricketts endorsed their opponents.
‘The public (in Nebraska) has always agreed with the death penalty – always,’ said state Sen. Mike Groene, an outspoken supporter of capital punishment. ‘I’m not the outlier here, and neither is the governor.’
There are now 10 death row prisoners in Nebraska – all of whom are murderers. No other executions have been scheduled for 2018.