America's 'worst ever execution' of man on death row where even prison official made dark admission about it

A death row inmate experienced one of the most gruesome deaths after his death method went wrong.

It’s not often you hear about inmates’ deaths going differently than expected.

But if you do, it’s usually a case of being unable to find a vein for the euthanasia, or a postponement of the date of death.

However, when it came to the death of Pedro Medina, it the fault might not get worse than this.

A former Florida warden, who is now against capital punishment, revealed the grisly details of the 1997 incident which saw Medina experience an excruciating end.

Ron McAndrew remembers March 27 clearly, having watched the events acted out without being able to stop them.

He explained that day didn’t see Medina executed, but ‘burned’ alive.

Pedro Medina was 'burned' alive (Florida Department of Corrections)

39-year-old Medina was incarcerated in Florida after being found guilty of the 1982 murder of an elementary teacher, and he was allegedly caught driving her car afterwards.

Put to death via Florida’s electric chair, dubbed ‘Old Sparky,’ the Lost Angeles Times described the instrument back in 97 as ‘a three-legged oaken seat built by prisoners at Florida State Prison in Starke and used since 1923 to administer a fatal 2000-volt dose of current to more than 225 convicted killers.’

However, it was known to be temperamental and even saw ‘sparks’ and ‘smoke’ at the head of one inmate it was used on prior to Medina’s death, per the outlet.

However, Medina’s fate would be much worse at the hand of the chair.

According to McAndrew, now 87, Medina was on fire.

He told the Daily Mail: "He caught fire. His body was twisting, and he was fighting the straps.

“It was obvious he was still alive when his head was on fire. It was a horrible way to kill somebody."

The chair was named 'Old Sparky' (Wikimedia Commons)

Despite McAndrew’s account of Medina appearing to be fighting straps and twisting, medical examiner Belle Almojera said in an affidavit shortly after his death that ‘in my professional opinion, he died a very quick, humane death’.

He added: “I did notice smoke coming from the hood. At no time while there was smoke did I observe any pain or suffering on the part of the inmate.”

According to reports at the time, Medina uttered his final words just as the hood was being pulled over his head.

They were: “I am still innocent.”

After his death, the electric chair was decommissioned and the lethal injection became the preferred mode of death, per AOL, with McAndrews turning on capital punishment afterwards.

"'Executions have a way of staying with you... It was very easy for me to learn that the most horrible punishment is actually locking someone in a cage for the rest of their lives.

"They call it an execution, but I can assure you it is not an execution – it is a premeditated, ceremonial, political killing. Nothing more, nothing less."