
The death chamber doctor’s dilemma: A physician in South Carolina breaks his silence
Until the second he saw the warden escort James Terry Roach into South Carolina’s death chamber, the prison doctor’s job had been to keep the man alive. Dr. Green Neal has kept his execution experience secret for 37 years. But in March, the South Carolina Department of Corrections announced it was ready to start shooting the condemned to death with a firing squad — and that a doctor’s presence would again be required in the chamber. I spoke to Neal about his story. It is only the second time in recent history that a doctor involved in executions talks in detail about his execution role with the press.