kirk hawkins has the latest. >> reporter: nearly two hours after his execution began, condemned arizona inmate joseph rudolph woodead. the convicted murderer gasped and snorted for more than an hour and a half. >> you could hear a deep snoring, sucking air sound. >> reporter: woods' lawyers filed an emergency appeal to the u.s. supreme court to stop the execution while it was under way, but the high court allowed it to proceed. >> at a certain point you wondered if he was ever going to die. >> reporter: woods' case will add to scrutiny surrounding lethal injection after two botched executions in ohio last january and oklahoma last april. woods' defense attorney filed several appeals that were denied by the u.s. supreme court. >> everybody here, from what i heard, said it was excruciating. you don't know what excruciating is. >> reporter: wood was convicted in the 1989 shooting deaths of 29-year-old debbie dietz and 55-year-old gene dietz. jeane and her husband richard say they have no problem with the way woods' execution was carried out. they say they are focused on their families' suffering. >> it's about the v