Arizona Carries Out Death Sentence on Aaron Gunches in Prolonged Legal Saga Over 2002 Murder

Aaron Gunches was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday morning, marking Arizona’s first execution since 2022. At 53 years old, Gunches did not offer any last words. The procedure commenced at 10:15 a.m. and he was pronounced dead by 10:33 a.m.

Gunches was sentenced to death for the 2002 murder of Ted Price, the ex-boyfriend of a woman with whom Gunches used drugs. Price, 40, had been staying at the woman’s apartment while waiting for student grant money. A violent argument erupted between Price and the woman, escalating when she threw a telephone at him, leaving him dazed. Gunches arrived, brandishing a gun and berating Price. He then forced Price to leave the apartment, and after discovering that the man lacked sufficient funds for a bus ticket, drove him to a remote location off the Beeline Highway where he shot him four times.

Price’s body was not discovered for nearly a month, and Gunches remained at large for two additional months. He was eventually arrested following a gunfight with a state trooper during a routine traffic stop. Though charged with Price’s murder in 2004, Gunches acted as his own attorney during the trials and refused to mount a defense. His behavior was characterized by one judge as “suicide by jury,” showcasing a pattern of self-sabotage.

In 2018, Gunches petitioned for expedited execution, nearly achieving it in 2022 when then-Attorney General Mark Brnovich secured a warrant. However, the execution was delayed by a review of the state’s execution protocols, which had been scrutinized following a botched execution in 2014 that lasted nearly two hours.

Governor Katie Hobbs appointed retired federal Magistrate Judge David Duncan to assess Arizona’s lethal injection methods. His preliminary findings raised concerns, putting pressure on Hobbs and current Attorney General Kris Mayes regarding the execution of Gunches, as Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell sought a new warrant.

Hobbs subsequently dismissed Duncan. Mayes then secured a new death warrant, but anti-death penalty advocates highlighted Duncan’s findings. A Virginia law professor filed an amicus brief, citing evidence that pentobarbital, the execution drug, caused distressing deaths akin to torture, despite appearing to induce a peaceful sleep. Former FDA officials and pharmacists also expressed concerns over the drug’s legality and expiry.

Despite these critiques, the court and state officials proceeded with the execution.