By John McCarthy
The Associated Press

LUCASVILLE, Ohio - A murderer who lost his appeal that lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment was executed Tuesday after prison workers struggled to find veins to insert the deadly chemical mix.

The difficulty inserting shunts in his arms delayed John Glenn Roe's execution by about 20 minutes.

His death at 10:24 a.m. for the 1984 shooting of a young Columbus mother was the 10th execution since Ohio resumed capital punishment in 1999.

Roe, 41, lay calmly as health workers poked around his arms and witnesses watched through a glass window. The shunts, where a needle carrying a mix of muscle relaxant and a heart-stopping drug are inserted, could not be installed in his forearms, the normal location. Instead, the workers found they were able to penetrate veins near his wrists.

Three witnesses for the victim, 20-year-old Donette Crawford, held hands as Roe was prepared for execution at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. Her sister, Michelle, patted her sweat shirt bearing a picture of Donette and whispered, "Look at her picture, buddy, right here."

Roe, asked if he had any last words, again proclaimed his innocence and apologized for lies he said prosecutors told about him.

"God is my witness, and you're killing an innocent man today," he said.

Don Crawford, Donette's father, said Roe was a liar to the end, referring to Roe's final innocence claim. Donette's fiance, Steve Steiner, also was a witness.

Roe grabbed Crawford from her car on the Columbus' west side, choked, then shot and robbed her, court records show. She left a 9-month-old girl.