Louisiana has placed a deposit on a lethal injection drug with a secret supplier as it prepares to execute condemned killer Todd Wessinger, the state corrections secretary revealed Wednesday in a sworn declaration.
Secretary Gary Wescott wrote that the state can now obtain lethal doses of pentobarbital within 48 hours of requesting it, potentially to resume executions by lethal injection in Louisiana for the first time since 2010.
Westcott did not reveal how much the state paid or to whom for the drug. A state law in 2024 that expanded Louisiana’s allowable execution methods, to also include nitrogen gas and electrocution, cloaked their procurement in secrecy.
In his declaration, Westcott says the state has paid a supplier to hold 15 grams of pentobarbital for Wessinger. The state will have it sent “if and when an execution warrant is issued for Plaintiff and Plaintiff elects to be executed by pentobarbital.”
Attorneys for Wessinger declined to comment.
Westcott’s statement comes as Louisiana seeks to defeat Wessinger’s legal challenge to killing him with nitrogen gas. His attorneys argue that the method, used by Louisiana for the first time last year to , is unconstitutionally cruel.
Only Alabama and Louisiana have used nitrogen gas for executions. Alabama’s use of it is on hold after seven executions, however, after a federal appeals court decision in June.
In Louisiana, which modeled its nitrogen gas protocol on Alabama’s, state officials have long maintained that lethal injection was no longer an option.
Westcott had cited threats by pharmaceutical companies to the state’s supply of medications for prisoners. As recently as June 20, he swore in a different case that drug companies’ restrictions were the reason Louisiana couldn’t obtain execution drugs.
Asked if he would switch back from nitrogen hypoxia if he could, Westcott demurred.
“I would use nitrogen hypoxia every time. 100 out of 100,” he said. “I would never choose lethal injection … as long as I’m secretary.”
Hoffman’s execution was Louisiana’s first in 15 years. In a July deposition, Westcott described it as “flawless” and “humane.”
Shifting tactics
Of the more than 50 inmates on death row in Louisiana, Wessinger appears to be the nearest to an execution date.
He was convicted of killing two of his former restaurant coworkers, Stephanie Guzzardo and David Breakwell, in Baton Rouge in 1995 and has been facing a death sentence for more than 30 years. A federal appeals court recently denied him relief.
As part of his federal challenge, Wessinger is required to present a less risky alternative to nitrogen hypoxia. He proposed lethal injection with single-dose pentobarbital.
The response from Gov. Jeff Landry was swift.
“Louisiana will execute Wessinger with pentobarbital if Wessinger chooses pentobarbital.” Landry posted to X.
So far, only Alabama and Louisiana have executed people with nitrogen gas. Under Louisiana law, the choice of method is left to the corrections secretary. Westcott, however, has declared he will cede the choice to Wessinger.
The decision follows a ruling in June by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which found that Alabama’s method for nitrogen hypoxia violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, shelving its use in that state.
In several of the seven Alabama executions using nitrogen hypoxia since 2024, media witnesses reported inmates shaking, thrashing and in one case “writhing violently.”
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Alabama’s challenge to that ruling, in the case of prisoner Jeffery Lee. Last month, Alabama went forward with Lee’s execution by lethal injection.