Rare scheduling in Oklahoma, Tennessee and Alabama underlines the renewed appetite in US for state killings

Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez was put to death by the state of Oklahoma, in the first of three executions scheduled for Thursday in a rare triple procedure that underlines the renewed appetite in the US for state killings.

Just one hour later, Darrell Hines was put to death by the state of Tennessee, and at 6pm local time in Alabama, that state executed Jeremy Williams.

On 13 August, three states are set to carry out executions by lethal injection. It’s the first time since 2010 that three people will be put to death on the same day in the US. In Tennessee, the execution of Darrell Hines is in the spotlight, because the last lethal injection in the state was botched. Ed Pilkington speaks to Kai Wright about the doctor at the center of that botched execution, whose identity was revealed inadvertently last year. Ed explains how his reporting has lifted the lid on a role that is usually hidden away from public view, and what it tells us about the American death penalty today

Unmasked: the doctor who helps put prisoners to death