Too Fat To Die...

A death row inmate scheduled for execution in October says he's so fat that Ohio executioners would have trouble finding his veins and that his weight could diminish the effectiveness of one of the lethal injection drugs.

Lawyers for Richard Cooey argue in a federal lawsuit that Cooey had poor veins when he faced execution five years ago and that the problem has been worsened by weight gain.

They cite a document filed by a prison nurse in 2003 that said Cooey had sparse veins and that executioners would need extra time.

Cooey, 41, was sentenced to die for raping and murdering two female University of Akron students in 1986. After a federal judge granted Cooey a last-minute reprieve in 2003, Cooey was returned to death row.

Two years ago, convicted killer Jeffrey Lundgren argued unsuccessfully that he was at greater risk of experiencing pain and suffering because he was overweight and diabetic.

A federal appeals court rejected the claim by Lundgren, convicted of killing a family of five in an eastern Ohio cult killing. He was executed in October 2006.