Inside Idahos new $1.2M execution chamber where 8 inmates await death by firing squad

Eight death row inmates in Idaho will soon face death in a brand new, top-of-the-line firing squad chamber — and state officials are looking for volunteers to fire the rifles.According to newly-released blueprint, Gem State officials will recruit six volunteer law enforcement officers with excellent aim to form its firing squad. Three primary officers – equipped with semi-automatic rifles – will be tasked with firing the initial round of shots, while two alternates stand by, ready to unleash a second volley of bullets in case the condemned inmate survives the first round.

A sixth officer, the squad leader, will be responsible for loading the state-owned firearms and directing the execution. All of the executions will take place inside a new, $1.2 million execution chamber built inside the Idaho Maximum Security Institution about 15 miles south of Boise – which is home to notorious inmates including University of Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger, “Doomsday mom” Lori Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell. The latter Daybell is one of the seven men in the state currently on death row, along with one woman – all of whom have been convicted of murder.Vallow Daybell and Kohberger avoided capital punishment, but are each serving consecutive life sentences on multiple murder convictions.The condemned inmates will be offered a sedative one day before facing the firing squad, and another just hours beforehand. Once inside the execution chamber, the prisoner will be strapped into a specially designed chair and medical personnel will attach heart-monitoring equipment to their body. A target will also get placed over their heart. After the prison director reads their death warrant aloud and gives the inmate an opportunity to make a final statement, the prisoner can request an eye covering before the gunfire begins. The three primary officers will then aim their rifles through a foot-wide opening in a protective wall that they’re standing behind, rough...