May 12, 2014 1 min read

PITTSBURGH (AP) – A man sentenced to death for the 2009 murders of three Pittsburgh police officers is asking what drugs will be used if he is executed, something the commonwealth hasn’t done since 1999.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that 27-year-old Richard Poplawski filed a request under the state’s Right to Know law in January.

He asked corrections department officials for “procedures and protocols for conducting executions, including types of drugs (and) chemicals, current inventory, expiration dates, and suppliers (and) providers.”

The request came five days after the execution of Ohio inmate Dennis McGuire, who took 26 minutes to die, gasping repeatedly. Debate over the death penalty intensified after Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett died of an apparent heart attack 43 minutes after the start of his execution.