Who invented the electric chair? Execution in the electric chair: what a person feels
I will try to answer a little wider than the previous authors.
The history of punishment and the death penalty, as its most extreme form, goes back to the mists of time. In different countries, there were many sophisticated ways to kill a person. And all of them, until recently, were divided according to the "article" and the severity of the crime and the status of the violator of the law. For all time and all countries, it is very long to write, but from those already mentioned, it is worth noting that various quartering and hanging were applied to the "ordinary" people, and cutting off the head (with a sword) - to the nobles. The latter practice continued until the 18th century. in France. It should be noted that any execution has always been public, as it is edifying (and somewhat entertaining) in nature and previously declared the "shame" of the executed (and sometimes his relatives).
Thus, at least three people participated in the execution: the criminal himself, his executioner and the spectator. Let's not forget about the relatives of the deceased. With the development of the ideas of humanism (and science), ideas of pity for all participants in the process appeared. The criminal, whoever he was, remained a man, and it did not look very good to torture him, after all, he already received the "capital measure". The executioner, paradoxically, is also a person. He not only from a certain point does not want to take on sin (unless, of course, he is a sadist), but he also needs to be trained in "painless" murder. There have always been problems with this item, since the head still needs to be chopped off, the rope of the correct length must be hung, the scaffold built, but this was far from always the case, and, as a result, the victim could suffer through the fault of the executioner. Finally, the mass audience has ceased to like this "entertainment" (although not immediately). Gradually, they came to the decision to carry out the execution with a small group of people involved (prosecutor, judge, victim, disinterested witnesses). Relatives had to receive the body for a decent burial (previously, the body could often hang for the same edifying purposes for a long time).
If we talk about countries, then by the XVIII century. in England, hanging is approved as the only method of execution, it also comes to the USA (then still colonies of England) and to Russia (thanks to Peter I, who replaced the impalement with him. in France, as already mentioned, the execution by cutting off the head is preserved. In During the years of the Great French Revolution, the Guillotine was developed to solve the problem of the executioner (many people were executed, skilled executioners who could cut off their heads with one blow were few, and they could not work in the mode in which it was required). "The execution itself - it becomes common for everyone.
Execution has also been known to us since ancient times (remember St. Sebastian), however, as far as I know, it was used extremely rarely and was in no way connected with "war crimes", as later. With the advent of the first firearms, execution was not practiced by them: squeaks, muskets, etc. were extremely unreliable, it was difficult to aim, and it was also necessary to find executioners (until the 18th century, all large European armies were hired, they would have been asked to pay extra for the execution of an unarmed to atone for sin). Execution was widely used after the improvement of weapons in the middle. XIX century. The first major example I recall is the execution of the Emperor of Mexico, Maximilian I of Habsburg, in 1867.
The same execution also showed all the disadvantages of this event, which were subsequently resolved in different ways: the firing squad did not want to shoot, they deliberately shot past or the wounds were not fatal.
As already mentioned, the electric chair was an attempt to find an alternative method of hanging, and only in the USA. The inventor is considered to be Albert Southwick. And the role in this of Addison, and even more so of Tesla, is fictional. Studies have shown that the method is unreliable, the victim is still suffering, and the process itself is not pleasant for anyone. Today, the electric chair remains only in the state of Virginia, and then the condemned to death can choose for himself whether to be burned to him or to be given a lethal injection. So did the last in Robert Gleason 2013.
Finally, the injection itself, first adopted in 1982, consists of two components (in response to comments on Pavel Voronov's answer): an anesthetic and the injection itself, which should instantly block the nervous system of any person. Why painkillers? All people are quite different. In theory, you need to calculate your own dose for each, which, by the way, is done in American prisons. However, it is always difficult to avoid a mistake, for such cases an anesthetic is needed - the process of death from an injection is painful, although it lasts for seconds, so that there are not even these seconds of torment (not to mention if it was calculated incorrectly and the process will last a little longer).
Returning to other executions, hanging was stopped in England in 1969, and the Guillotine was last used in France in 1977.
I summarize. Execution to this day has been humanized as much as possible. It is completely banned in many countries. In others, the process is reduced to making it as "comfortable" as possible for the criminal, the executioner, and the spectator: only fast and reliable methods are used.
I conclude that this is only part of the story of the execution. In other countries, at other times, things could be different. For example, in Nazi Germany, everything was the other way around: decapitation was considered a shameful death, and the same hanging has many ways, including "painless". So in the above countries there were exceptions, special executions were used in special cases, etc.
Well no. In the Napoleonic era, execution as the ultimate punishment was prescribed both in the French charter (since the time of the Ancien Regime), and in the Russian and other charters of the European armies. There is nothing difficult in the fact that a dozen experienced soldiers almost point-blank fired a volley of muskets. And since the execution was prescribed for exceptionally grave acts (looting, rape that resulted in the death of the victim, etc.), the comrades did not particularly feel sorry for the person being shot.
At the end of the 19th century, Thomas Edison invented the incandescent lamp, which was a truly great invention that made it possible to use electricity to light cities ...
A dentist in Buffalo, New York named Albert Southwick thought that electricity could be used in his medical practice as a pain reliever.
One day, Southwick saw one of the Buffalo residents touch the exposed wires of an electric generator at the city's power plant and die, Southwick thought, almost instantly and painlessly.
This incident led him to the idea that the execution using electricity could replace hanging as a more humane and quick punishment.
First, Southwick spoke with the head of the Society for the Protection of Animals from Cruelty, Colonel Rockwell, suggesting the use of electricity to get rid of unwanted animals instead of drowning them (a method traditionally used).
Rockwell liked this idea.
In 1882, Southwick began experimenting on animals, publishing his results in scientific papers.
Southwick then showed the results to his influential friend, Senator David McMillan. Southwick stated that the main advantage of electrocution was that it was painless and quick.
Macmillan was committed to retaining the death penalty; he was attracted by this idea as an argument against the abolition of the death penalty, because this type of execution cannot be called cruel and inhumane, therefore, supporters of the abolition of the death penalty will lose their most compelling arguments.
Macmillan relayed what he heard to New York Governor David Bennett Hill.
In 1886, the "Law for the establishment of a commission to investigate and present an opinion on the most humane and acceptable method of carrying out the death sentence" is passed.
The commission included Southwick, Judge Matthew Hale and politician Eluridge Gerry.
The conclusion of the commission, set out on ninety-five pages of the report, was as follows: the best method of carrying out the death penalty is execution by electricity.
The report recommended that the state replace hanging with a new type of execution.
Governor Hill signs the law on June 5, 1888, which was to take effect on January 1, 1889, and begin a new, humane punishment in the state of New York.
It remained to decide the question concerning the apparatus for carrying out the sentence and the question of what type of electric current should be used: direct or alternating.
It is worth considering the history associated with alternating and direct currents. How do they differ, and which current is more suitable for execution?
Long before the invention of Thomas Edison, scientists from different countries worked on this subject, but no one managed to use electricity in everyday life. Edison put into practice the theory developed before him.
Edison's first power station was built in 1879; almost immediately, representatives from different US cities went to the scientist.
Edison's DC system had its difficulties. Direct current flows in one direction. Supplying direct current is not possible over a long distance, it was necessary to build power plants, even to provide electricity to a medium-sized city.
The way out was found by the Croatian scientist Nikola Tesla. He developed the idea of using alternating current.
Alternating current can change direction several times per second, creating a magnetic field without losing electrical voltage.
AC voltage can be stepped up and down using transformers.
High voltage current can be transmitted over long distances with little loss, and then, through a step-down transformer, bring electricity to consumers.
Some cities used an alternating current system (but not designed by Tesla), and this system attracted investors.
One such investor was George Westinghouse, famous for his invention of the airbrake.
Westinghouse intended to make the use of AC profitable, but Edison's DC technology was more popular at the time. Tesla worked for Edison, but he did not pay attention to his developments, and Tesla quit.
He soon patented his ideas and was able to demonstrate them in action.
In 1888, Westinghouse bought forty patents from Tesla, and within a few years over a hundred cities were using the alternating current system. Edison's enterprise began to lose ground. It became obvious that the AC system would replace the DC system.
However, Edison did not believe this. In 1887, he began to discredit the Westinghouse system by requiring his employees to collect information on deaths caused by alternating current, in the hope of proving that his system was safer for the public.
The battle of the titans, as this story is sometimes called, began when the question arose about the type of current that was to be used in the death penalty apparatus. Edison did not want his invention to be associated with death, he wanted alternating current to be used in the death penalty machine.
On June 5, 1888, the New York Evening Post published a letter from Harold Brown that warned of the dangers of alternating current. This letter caused an alarmed reaction in the society. In the 1870s, Brown was an employee of Edison, and it can be assumed that this letter was registered. In 1888, Brown conducted a series of experiments on animals, demonstrating the destructive power of alternating current. Two second-hand alternators were used in the experiments, since Westinghouse refused to sell his generators. Experiments were carried out on several dozen dogs, cats, and two horses.
The speech of the respected scientist Thomas Edison before the commission on the decision of the method of execution made a vivid impression. The legendary inventor convinced everyone present that death with the use of electricity is painless and quick, of course, in the case of using alternating current. The commission had the option of introducing execution by lethal injection.
Lethal injection is considered more humane than the electric chair. In the 20th century, almost all states that have the death penalty began to use it.
Perhaps many would not suffer in the electric chair if there were no competition between campaigns or Edison's persuasive speech before the commission, although the main issue was that execution by lethal injection should be carried out with the help of doctors or the doctors themselves, which is impossible. for obvious reasons.
The first execution took place on January 1, 1889.
A few decades after this event, this "unit" was called the Westinghouse chair or "Westinghoused".
The next executions took place in the spring of 1891.
Four were executed for different crimes. The method of execution has been adjusted. The generator has become more powerful, the wires are thicker. The second electrode was connected not to the spine, but to the arm.
These executions went more smoothly and the new method was accepted by public opinion.
The first "tester" of innovation was a killer named Kemmsler. For obvious reasons, he could not describe his feelings, but the witnesses of the execution noted that 15-20 seconds after the first discharge, the criminal was still alive.
I had to turn on the current of a higher voltage and for a longer time. For a long time and painfully, the “experiment” was brought “to the end”. This execution caused a lot of protests from the American and world community.
And the technology of killing with the help of an electric chair is as follows: the offender is seated on a chair, tied to it with leather straps and securing the wrists, ankles, hips and chest. Two copper electrodes are fixed on the body, one on the leg, the skin under it is usually shaved for better current conduction, and the second is applied to the shaved crown. Typically, the electrodes are lubricated with a special gel to improve current conduction and reduce skin burning. An opaque mask is put on the face.
The executioner presses the switch button on the control panel, giving the first discharge with a voltage of 1700 - 2400 volts and a duration of 30 - 60 seconds. The time is set on the timer in advance, and the current is turned off automatically. After 2 discharges, the doctor examines the body of the offender, who may not have been killed by previous discharges. Death occurs as a result of cardiac arrest and respiratory paralysis.
However, modern executors have come to the conclusion that the passage of current through the brain does not cause instant cardiac arrest (clinical death), but only prolongs the torment. Now criminals are cut and electrodes are inserted into the left shoulder and right thigh, so that the discharge passes just through the aorta and heart.
Although all methods of execution are more or less cruel, the electric chair is characterized by frequent and tragic malfunctions that cause additional suffering for the convicted person, especially in cases where the equipment is old and needs to be repaired.
All this led to the fact that, under the influence of the famous American human rights activist Leo Jones, the electric chair was recognized as a "cruel, inapplicable" punishment, contrary to the US Constitution.
Leon Czolgosz
Leon Frank Czolgosz assassinated the 25th President of the United States, William McKinley. “I killed the President because he was the enemy of good people – good working people. I do not regret my crime,” Czolgosz said on this occasion.
While still at school, Leon became interested in anarchism and participated in strikes. In addition, from the age of 10 he worked - the family was sorely lacking money. Over time, the teenager thought about terrorist activities - in his opinion, the murder of a high-ranking official could be the beginning of the struggle for "universal equality."
Kennedy was not the only US president to be assassinated.
After McKinley's murder, Czolgosz was arrested. During the trial, he stated that he was doing his duty and was declared mentally healthy. In addition, the man said that he acted alone and refused to communicate with lawyers. He was executed in the electric chair on October 29, 1901. During the execution, the eyes were usually covered with plaster, the hands were fastened with straps to the armrests, the legs - to the legs of the table. The use of the electric chair caused a heated discussion among Americans - many publications appeared in the press, which noted the cruelty of this method of execution.
Ted Bundy
Also nicknamed "The Charismatic Killer", he is one of the most "popular" maniacs in US history. This young, well-educated, attractive intellectual and potentially promising lawyer was nothing like a sadistic rapist. Bundy knew how to charm: he used this skill to find his victims, he turned to the same talent in court to win the love of jurors, the public and journalists.
Bundy confessed to 30 murders, but experts noted that the real number of his victims could be much higher. Often the girls disappeared in crowded places: in a bar, on the beach, in the parking lot of a supermarket. The reason was simple: the criminal did not inspire fear in them, they all left with him voluntarily.
In January 1989, Bundy was executed in the electric chair (while he hoped for a pardon to the last). On that day, several thousand people organized a celebration near the walls of the prison.
Louis Buchalter
Louis Buchalter is an American gangster whose specialization was the "protection" of business. The man's criminal career began with control over trade unions. They paid Buchalter large weekly payments. In the 1930s, the man teamed up with several criminals. The gangsters formed a group called the Murder Corporation. The organization specialized in contract killings. Buchalter was arrested and executed in 1944. He was the only mafia leader sentenced to capital punishment.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
The Rosenbergs were put on trial on charges of espionage. It was alleged that they passed nuclear secrets to the USSR and worked for Soviet intelligence. In 1951 they were sentenced to death. Several public organizations came out in support of Julius and Ethel. They were called for mercy by the Pope, Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, Francois Mauriac and Jean-Paul Sartre. The case went to the US Supreme Court. President Dwight Eisenhower confirmed the death sentence. On June 19, 1953, the Rosenbergs were executed at Sing Sing Prison.
And strange as it may seem, such a method was invented very soon, although it is simply not possible to call it humane - the electric chair.
The first electric chair was invented by Harold Brown, who worked for Thomas Edison.
Moreover, with the help of an electric chair, "two birds with one stone" were killed at once: the first - the "poor fellow" - a prisoner, and the second - scientific knowledge. And really, who would allow them to bully people and shy them with current at various voltages in order to see the reaction of the human body to various voltages, and in the end to find out at what current strength it will hoard.
So, for example, two doctors named Prevest and Batteli, from a scientific university in the USA, demonstrated in 1899 that death in the electric chair is not due to brain damage, but primarily due to high voltage, which is accompanied by frequent and uneven contractions of the heart, resulting in a complete stop.
The electric chair was first used in the United States on August 6, 1890, at the Auburn Prison in New York State (eleven years later, Leon Czolgosz, the murderer of President McKinley, was executed in the same prison in the electric chair). During the 20th century, it was used in 25 states, but in recent decades the electric chair has been actively supplanted by other forms of execution (for example, lethal injection) and is now rarely used. For some time it was also used in the Philippines.
It is currently used in six states - in Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia at the choice of the convict along with lethal injection, and in Kentucky and Tennessee only those who committed a crime earlier than a certain date have the right to choose to use the electric chair (in Kentucky - April 1, 1998, in Tennessee - January 1, 1999). In Nebraska, the electric chair was used as the only method of execution, but on February 8, 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that it was a "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by the constitution. In Illinois and Oklahoma, it can only be used in strictly specified cases, for example, if all other methods of execution are found unconstitutional at the time of the execution of the death sentence.
During 2004 this method of execution was used only once, in 2005 it was never used, in 2006 - once.
To date, the last time the electric chair was used was on March 18, 2010, when Paul Powell, a racist murderer who killed a girl for dating a black man, was executed in Virginia, in addition, he raped and tried to kill her sister.
As for the execution itself, the convict had to be carefully prepared, having shaved his head and the back of the leg. This allows the skin to better contact the electrodes that are passed through the body. The prisoner's arms, torso and legs were tied with straps to a chair. One electrode was attached to the head, the other to the leg. At least two electrical currents pass through the body within a few minutes. The initial electrical voltage is equal to 2000 volts, which stops the heart and leads to death.
In one of the states in the USA, the protocol stated that 2450 volts were passed through the body of the convict for 15 seconds. After 15 minutes, the body was examined, but the person was still alive, as a result of which the procedure had to be repeated 3 more times. With such a voltage, the human body is literally fried at a temperature of 100 C, which leads to severe damage to all internal organs. Despite this, the convict struggled with all his might for life, as a result of which, after the power was turned off for the 3rd time, his eyeballs even melted and, of course, he was dead.
Blindfolding is also part of the execution. As a result of the execution, people can convulse and twitch uncontrollably, sometimes there is an involuntary emptying of the body. Prisoners are often asked to "swaddle" them.
Despite the fact that death is supposedly instantaneous, some prisoners scream during the execution. There were cases when people's heads caught fire and then exploded.
Human skin burns and smolders. And before the next use of the electric chair, someone has a "hard time", tearing off pieces of burnt skin from the seat and belts.
Interesting Facts:
- In 1991, two doctors from Poland also recommended that the hips of the defendants be tied, as there was a case when an arrested person broke both legs, when, after a huge force of the transmitted current, he violently beat them on a chair.
- In 1946, the electric chair broke down and the convict was “successfully” returned to the chair and executed only a year later.
Electric chair
Electric shock is not as severe as the sword and guillotine, but it creates a feeling of painful uncertainty about the moment of death. Photo "Sigma".
The expansion of the scope of the industrial application of electricity in the 19th century should of itself lead to the idea that the power of electricity provides new, "progressive" possibilities of killing.
The first electric current generator in the United States was demonstrated in New York in 1882. Eight years later, in 1890, electricity was already taking its first steps as a legal technical means of execution.
The electric chair, one of the most controversial killing tools, questioned even by supporters of the death penalty, emerged as a result of an economic and industrial war between two competing companies that asserted the superiority of different types of current: alternating and direct.
The building of Saint Quentin Prison, which houses the electric chair. American Department of Corrections Archives. Qty. Monestier.
It all started in New York City in 1882, when the inventor of the electric light bulb and phonograph, Thomas Edison, opened his first power station on Pearl Street to light the commercial and financial center of the city.
Four years later, in March 1886, engineer George Westinghouse, the inventor of the air brake, bought up several patents and founded his electric company. It will illuminate the entire city of Great Barrington.
With this, the confrontation between the two technological concepts began ... Thomas Edison produces and supplies direct current, and George Westinghouse - alternating current, which leads to irreconcilable rivalry between the two largest scientists of our era.
George Westinghouse's alternating current was soon found to be more efficient and - more importantly - more cost-effective than Thomas Edison's direct current. And the stakes are high: serving the residential and industrial sectors of the entire American continent.
Gradually, Thomas Edison begins to lose ground in the market, many of his technical and sales specialists move to a competitor's company. Edison, urged on by the shareholders, decides to act and launches a major press campaign to discredit AC, presenting it as extremely dangerous. Edison's calculation is simple: by impressing readers that alternating current is associated with a mortal risk, to push them to use direct current for domestic needs.
Population outrage
At the instigation of Edison, a certain Harold Brown - the actual inventor of the electric chair (1888) - writes a long article in the New York Evening Post about the dangers of alternating current, in which he accuses entrepreneurs and industrialists of putting their own financial interests ahead of safety consumers. George Westinghouse answers him through the newspaper, he denies the accusations made, pointing out that Harold Brown does not have the technical qualifications to make such statements. Defending his case, Harold Brown openly enters into cooperation with Thomas Edison and uses his laboratories for a series of tests. He even undertakes a tour of the country with a peculiar performance in which dogs, cats, monkeys and even horses are electrocuted in front of local authorities, journalists and businessmen. In an effort to prove that Thomas Edison's direct current is more suitable for domestic and industrial applications, he shows a number: Animals that survive 1,000 volts DC with less than 300 volts AC die.
An autopsy showed that the brain of the executed man resembled a "burnt cupcake." Engraving. Private Col.
Harold Brown ended his trip to Columbia with a nationwide press conference, where he invited not only journalists from all over the country, but also a huge number of professional electricians: in front of the assembled crowd, he electrocuted a dog weighing 38 kg, thus demonstrating, as he thought, the danger of alternating current, and solemnly declared: "Alternating current is suitable only for the destruction of dogs in receivers and cattle in the slaughterhouse." In the end, he made a dubious joke, adding: "Or for the execution of those sentenced to death."
Chronicle of electrocution
Electric shock theoretically proceeds as a continuous automatic cycle for two minutes. When the executioner applies a current of 1900-2500 volts - depending on the model of the chair used - it gets on the copper wires of the contact plate of the helmet, from which the convict should instantly lose consciousness and no longer feel pain.
The two-minute cycle is subdivided into 8 consecutive series of 5 and 25 seconds.
- The current strength ranges from 5 to 15 amperes. When the apparatus is turned on, the convict usually jerks forward sharply, and if he were not securely strapped to the chair, he would be thrown several meters away.
- According to numerous stories of direct witnesses, during the first cycle, losing consciousness, the convict completely loses control over muscle activity. He urinates and defecates. He often vomits blood and bites his tongue.
- During the second cycle, blood bubbles out of his nose.
- From the third to the fifth cycle, the body temperature rises above 100 degrees, the skin acquires a purple hue. Fibrillation and paralysis of the airways occur.
- On the seventh and eighth cycles, the circulatory system of the brain "burns out", and often the eyes crawl out of their sockets. The top of the head becomes black with a bright pink border.
For the execution of the condemned, a suit is sewn to order. As underwear, tight shorts made of cotton jersey with elasticated waist and hips and an absorbent pad are issued.
Persons present at the execution:
- the director of the prison, who gives the order to "turn on the current";
- the officer responsible for the execution, who, together with two or three guards, prepares the convict and puts him on a chair;
- an electrician who connects the cables and electrodes and monitors the technical side of the execution;
- a doctor certifying the death of the convict;
- an executioner appointed by the court, who carries out the execution, hidden from prying eyes;
- officials, including a representative of the state governor;
- accredited journalists and lawyers of the convict;
- persons indicated by the convict himself.
Pamphlets are handed out to witnesses of the execution, which detail the procedure for killing.
Official witnesses and journalists are required to remain silent during the entire procedure. They are in a glass room. Thanks to the acoustic system, guests can hear everything that happens around the electric chair.
A direct telephone line is set up between the state governor's office and the "chair" room, in case a last-minute postponement decision is made.
Among the most famous executed in the electric chair: Sacco and Vanzetti (1927); Bruno Hauptmann (1935), kidnapped the child of the famous American aviator Lindbergh; Ethel and Julius Rosenberg (1953), accused of espionage.
Execution of Liz Place, the first woman to be electrocuted in 1899 in New York State. Private Col.
History reference
In November 1990, 2,151 US convicts were awaiting execution, 600 of them in the electric chair.
A large number of minors were executed in the electric chair. The last execution of a teenager took place on October 10, 1984 in South Carolina.
Of the 28 minors who were in the "corridor of death" in 1989, 11 were sentenced to the electric chair.
The record for the number of convicts awaiting execution by electric shock belongs to Florida: 315 people as of July 1992, 35% of them blacks. Then come Pennsylvania with 113 convicts, Georgia with 105, Tennessee with 69 and Virginia with 38.
The two electric chairs most frequently used by convicts over the past sixty years are at Ridesvilk (Georgia, 300 executions) and Rayford (Florida, 196 executions).
Many of the electric chairs in use in the US were supplied by Westinghouse, others by local electricians, and one by the prisoners themselves.
The Miami Herald published in 1988 an administration-confirmed figure that showed $57 million had been spent on electrocution in Florida since 1976. This figure includes the cost of staying on death row in prison, the cost of appeal procedures. The state's total cost per person sentenced to the electric chair was estimated at $3.17 million, six times the cost of a forty-year prison sentence.
A similar study of convicts in Tennessee cites a figure of $3-5 million per convict. In New York State, a 1982 study published that, on average, a criminal process followed by an appeal procedure costs about $1.8 million, or twice as much as a person's lifetime allowance.
The electric chair itself cost thirty thousand dollars in 1966.
The hidden meaning of the “performances” of Harold Brown did not escape the group of legislators in the state of New York, where a special commission created by the governor was working on the invention of a method of execution more humane than hanging. Recently, several very cruel executions have taken place, which have caused outrage among the broad masses. In particular, the unsuccessful hanging of one convict: his spine remained intact, and the man swayed on a rope for twenty minutes, being in a clear mind, and died, choking on saliva. In addition, the press often reported on accidents when an electric shock caused a quick death without obvious bodily harm.
In 1881, the death of Samuel Smith of Buffalo, New York was widely reported in the press, his death was described as quick and painless, and this planted in the minds of many figures the idea that it was electric shock that could be the desired method of execution.
From 1883 to 1888, there were about 250 fatal accidents due to electric shock.
First electric chair
An ardent abolitionist, Thomas Edison hoped to destroy a competitor, testifying before the commission that death by electric shock occurs quickly and painlessly. Provided, of course, that Westinghouse alternating current is used.
Perhaps electricity will finally make the death penalty technically perfect and impeccable from the point of view of humanity. Edison's DC exploitation company is about to strike the decisive blow. She imports from Thailand half a dozen orangutans, large apes the size of a man, who are killed by alternating current as a warning to legislators. This sinister ceremony is said to have prompted them to become more familiar with the "wonderful world of electricity". Doctors interviewed are favorable, arguing that electric shock will lead to instant death due to cardiac arrest and paralysis of the respiratory apparatus. The U.S. Supreme Court debates and concludes that this type of execution is consistent with the Eight Amendments to the Constitution, which prohibits "cruel and inhuman punishment."
On June 4, 1889, New York state legalizes electrocution, instructing the state medical service to settle the technical details. Soon, of course, Harold Brown is called. He resumes a series of animal tests at Edison Laboratories and concludes that the execution should be carried out with a current of 300 volts for 15 seconds.
The first discharge is the most powerful, then the voltage is gradually reduced, and at the end it is again increased to a maximum.
Harold Brown designs the first electric chair in history. He is assisted by Dr. George Fell of Buffalo. Harold Brown and Thomas Edison considered their goal achieved: Westinghouse's alternating current would soon become known as the "execution current", the "inevitable death current".
George Westinghouse sues over the scientific validity of Harold Brown's tests, emphasizing that this Edison employee has one goal: to frighten the public by convincing them that alternating current is dangerous in the home.
Despite the lack of consensus, an ordinance signed by the Chief of Corrections, Harold Brown, is allowed to install his electric chair at Auburn State Prison. He is determined to do everything to make the chair associated with the name of a competitor, and makes an attempt to buy three powerful generators from Westinghouse's firm. As you might guess, they refuse him there. Thomas Edison again steps in and arranges with Thomson Houston Electric to purchase for him, through a Boston dealer in used electrical apparatus, the above-mentioned generators.
Organs for sale
In the People's Republic of China, the authorities have found a way to profit from crime: those sentenced to death serve as an "organ bank" for transplants.
In the early 1980s, Chinese officials decided that the organs of the executed could be used as a source of foreign exchange earnings. Thus, the Chinese, through the mediation of doctors working in Hong Kong, who supply them with Western clients, have become famous in the field of kidney transplants.
One responsible person in China, whose words were published in June 1991 by Puen magazine, cited a figure of 1,000 transplants per year since 1990. And that's just the data on the kidneys. The number of transplants of other organs is not known, but we are probably talking about very significant numbers.
Considering that about 1,000 official executions take place in China every year (in fact, many more), it is understandable why Chinese officials are pleased to note "that China is the only country in the world that has a surplus of organs."
There is only one step left before the commissioned execution, which the Chinese authorities may have already taken, given a pamphlet circulating in Hong Kong touting the value for money of Nanjing's communist hospitals: francs". “The kidney comes from a living donor,” the brochure clarifies. In 1992, Taiwan's justice minister, Liu Yu Wen, declared that all those sentenced to death in his country should voluntarily donate their organs to the state.
The first criminal chosen to test the "modern method" of execution - or to "induce an electric current into the body," to follow the official wording - was named Francis Kemmeler. He was sentenced to death for hacking a man with an axe. George Westinghouse hires lawyers for him to appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing that electrocution is unconstitutional, cruel, and inhuman.
A court hearing is scheduled, where Harold Brown and Thomas Edison are summoned, who once again confirm that death from alternating current occurs quickly and painlessly. Both swear that their position has nothing to do with financial interests. Francis Kemmeler's lawyers are denied an appeal.
On April 6, 1890, Francis Kemmeler was led into the execution room of Auburn Prison. It was 6 hours 30 minutes. He was shaved and stripped down to his underpants. “Take your time and do everything right,” he tells the director of the prison. A few minutes later, he asks that the electrode attached to the helmet be tightened.
About forty people attended his execution, half of those invited were doctors and physicists.
The public, startled but curious, had twenty minutes to inspect the execution instrument before the condemned man was brought in.
The execution of Francis Kemmeler - the first executed in the electric chair. 1890 The execution lasted 17 minutes and caused a wave of protests around the world. Engraving. Private count
A room behind glass, from where witnesses and journalists monitor the execution. Archives of the Louisina Department of Corrections. Qty. Monestier.
Judicial errors
Many famous mathematicians of the 19th century, including Laplace, Cournot and Poisson, tried to determine, on the basis of the theory of probability, the proportion of erroneous and justified sentences. Thus, Poisson carefully analyzed the French criminal procedure. According to the famous scientist, the mathematical probability of a miscarriage of justice in France is 1 in 257 death sentences. Professors Hugo Bedo and Michael Radele proved that in the 20th century in the United States, 349 innocent people were convicted of crimes punishable by death. 23 of them were executed. This data takes into account only those cases when the true killer was found and the judicial authorities admitted their mistake.
The American Civil Liberties Association says 25 cases.
It was a wide and heavy wooden chair, behind which was a control panel with three huge levers.
Two thick four-meter electric wires stretched from the panel, to which pre-wetted electrodes were connected.
The convict was tied to a chair, a metal helmet was put on his head. An electrode was attached to the helmet. The second electrode - long and flat - was pressed to the back with a belt. After checking everything for the last time, they gave the first discharge of 300 volts, which lasted 17 seconds. Having received a blow, Kemmeler began to convulse, nearly knocking over his chair. Officials noted that henceforth the chair should be fixed to the floor.
Kemmeler was still alive. Then they gave me a second grade. The body of the condemned turned red and began to char, emitting a strong smell and yellowish smoke, which covered the witness stand. Three minutes later the power was turned off.
Oh God! The man seemed to be still alive. The current was turned on again, as a result, "a tiny blue light swept up and down his back."
Finally, the condemned man died. An autopsy showed that the brain of the executed man became like a “burnt cupcake”, the blood in the head coagulated and turned black, and the back was completely charred. Both doctors officially stated that the convict did not suffer.
Part of American society applauded the new invention as "a step forward on the path to higher civilization" and "the triumph of science and humanism over barbarism and atrocity." Others were outraged after reading the horrifying stories in the press. When a serious morning newspaper headlined its article "Kemmeler Westenghausen", Thomas Edison thought that his victory was not far off.
The Medical Commission and the state deputies found themselves in a very difficult position after the unsuccessful execution of Kemmeler. Harold Brown and Thomas Edison were required to improve the technical aspect of subsequent executions.
The electrodes were first attached to the head and back, then to the head and calf muscle. At the suggestion of Thomas Edison, they tried to attach them to the palms. The seven executions carried out in this way were horrendous. Some convicts who could not be executed immediately died only when the location of the electrodes was changed, returning to the head-leg option.
Execution of juvenile offenders
In the 1980s, juvenile offenders were executed in eight countries: Bangladesh, Barbados, Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, Rwanda, Pakistan, and the United States. In the 1990s, 72 countries specifically stipulated in their legislation that a criminal under the age of 18 could not be sentenced to death.
Between 1974 and 1991, 92 juvenile delinquents, including 4 girls, were sentenced to death in the United States.
In 1989, the US Supreme Court ruled that it was not against the constitution to execute 16-year-old criminals.
Of the 37 US states that have the death penalty in their laws, 26 have it applicable to offenders under the age of 18: Idaho, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Washington, Wyoming, Vermont, Virginia, South Dakota, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Florida.
Of the 26 states in which the death penalty is applicable to minors, ell there is no clearly defined age limit: Idaho, Arizona, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming, South Dakota, Delaware, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Florida. At 15, the lower age limit is less than 18:
- Montana: 12 years old.
- Mississippi: 13 years.
- Alabama, Missouri, Utah: 14 years.
- Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia: 15 years.
- Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada: 16 years old.
- North Carolina, Georgia, New Hampshire, Texas: 17 years.
According to research by Professor Victor Streib of the University of Cleveland, between 1600 and 1991, 286 juvenile delinquents, including 9 girls, were legally executed in the United States for crimes committed as minors. Twelve of them were under 14 at the time of the crime, three were 12, and one was 10 years old. Most of the juveniles were executed in the 20th century - 190 out of 286 executions took place after 1905.
The youngest person to be executed in the 20th century was Fortune Fergusson, who was hanged in 1927 at the age of 16 for a rape he committed at 13.
Two sixteen-year-old suicide bombers. USA. 1959 Photo "Keyston".
First woman to be electrocuted
The first woman to be electrocuted was named Liz Place. She was put to death in 1899 in the state of New York for the murder of her daughter-in-law and husband. The sentenced woman was warned about the method of execution a few hours before the execution and was transported to the Sing Sing men's prison, at that time the only one in the state where there was an electric chair.
The press reported that the victim showed the highest degree of mental courage. She sat down in the electric chair without hesitation and allowed herself to be bound without a single word. But this time, the execution was not up to the mark. As they wrote in the press, "she did not die from the first discharge of 1700 volts, although it lasted forty seconds." Witnesses saw how her lips moved between the first and second discharges: she was praying. The spectacle turned out to be so terrifying that the confessor could not bear it and turned away. After the second discharge, the blackened, half-charred body was finally removed from the chair. The electrodes stuck to the body, after the second discharge, the head began to “roast”. The journalist concluded: "The last word in improving the process of execution has not yet been said, since death does not occur instantly, as we would like."
Indeed, like all novelties, electrocution presented some problems that needed to be “finished”.
According to many, these problems have not disappeared to this day. But, despite the unreliability of this method of execution, electric shock began to be used more and more often. In 1906, more than a hundred criminals sat on a chair, which by that time had been awarded with many nicknames that are still used in the underworld.
The abolitionists, whose outrage grew over the years, were told that since 1905 there had been about 500 accidental electric shocks a year in the country and that the unfortunate people died absolutely painlessly. Since the first execution by electric shock, which took place in 1890, each subsequent one has become an occasion for long and serious disputes among specialists.
What is the "ideal voltage" really? 1350 volts at the beginning of the execution looks rather weak. So how much: 1750? 1900? 2000? 2500? What are the limits of current fluctuations: 7.5-10 amperes, 15 or 20? Is it necessary to take into account the weight of the convict? Heart size? Health status?
Today, medicine admits that some individuals tolerate electric shock better. In the period between the world wars, there was an opinion that these were people of small stature, anemic and almost consumptive. It was even believed that such factors as ambient temperature and the menu of the last meal should not be neglected.
Execution in 1933 of Zangara, murderer of the mayor of Chicago. Qty. Monestier.
It is easier to kill a person with an electric shock when a discharge of 10,000 or 20,000 volts, from 50 to 100 amperes, passes through the body. Then he will die instantly, but the corpse will be so disfigured that there will be little left of it at all. However, Judeo-Christian morality requires respect for the body, and justice requires at least a minimum of decency, and the difficulty was to find a tension that could kill at once without causing visible bodily harm. Despite the technical problems, Americans at the beginning of the 20th century were by and large quite satisfied with the incomparable scientific achievement that was electric shock. They praised his virtues so much that many countries sent competent observers to the United States. So, in 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II sent the famous criminologist Boris Fressdenthal to the United States to observe the execution procedure and express his opinion on the introduction of this method of killing into the German criminal code.
Boris Fressdantal was not attracted by the new method of execution. He wrote: “Electrical shock is not as cruel as the sword and guillotine we use, but one serious reproach can be made to this method - uncertainty, painful uncertainty, regarding the exact moment of death. Has it really happened or is it just an appearance? How much time exactly elapses between the application of the current and the loss of consciousness? In his conclusion, he categorically rejects the introduction of this method in Germany, citing the technical imperfection of the execution.
In 1950, the British Royal Commission, which conducted a study of the methods of the death penalty, made a similar conclusion. Recall that in many American states this method was abandoned, out of the twenty-three states that used it in 1967, only fourteen remained by the end of the 20th century, in others they preferred to execute by hanging, gas chamber or execution, and since 1977 - by means of death. injections.
Only the Philippines and Taiwan used the electric chair for a while, but then returned to shooting.
Over the 20th century, a lot of terrible evidence of executions in the electric chair has accumulated. Kurt Rossa, referring to the testimony of Congressman and Senator Emmanuel Teller, describes one failed execution that took place in 1926. A woman named Judo was executed in the electric chair. “The toggle switch was turned on, the current went. The woman arched her back in her chair, but did not lose consciousness. The body was thrown from side to side ... The executioner changed the power of the current and again gave a discharge. Discharge after discharge passed through the body of the convict, but she did not lose consciousness and remained alive. Then they gave 2000 volts. An eternity passed, my eyes were still sparkling, the prosecutor made a sign to the executioner to turn off the current ... The unfortunate woman was still alive.
She was taken to the prison medical unit, and the director of the prison, under pressure from witnesses and journalists, called the governor to ask for a pardon. He objected that there was no document allowing him to make such a decision. An hour later, the convict was returned to the execution room, where this time she died from the first discharge.
Deadly performances
Since the early 1980s, there has been an increase in the number of countries carrying out public executions, often broadcast on radio and television.
States addicted to this grim spectacle include: Angola, Cameroon, United Arab Emirates, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Mozambique, Pakistan, Uganda, North Yemen, Somalia, Liberia, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan and China as part of a national anti-crime campaign.
Most often, such executions, which gathered thousands of spectators, were execution and hanging. In 1992, 27 people were publicly hanged in Afghanistan; 66 people were beheaded in Saudi Arabia.
In 1928, Joseph Lang, executioner at the Columbus State Prison (Ohio), testifies: “The first discharge of 1150 volts was not fatal, the heart was beating smoothly. And the second one didn't work. Then the voltage was tripled. 3,000 volts. A bright flame engulfed the body shaking in convulsions, and the execution hall was filled with the smell of fried meat ... However, the cause of death was not the actual electric shock in the narrow sense of the word, but the burning of the body. In 1941, after an electrocution in New York, the chaplain of Sing Sing prison wrote the following: “One might have thought that these were burns from lying too long in the bright sun, the whole body was swollen, acquiring a dark red color.”
In 1946, another witness stated: “The blood vessels swelled so that they burst ... The steam enveloped the head and bare knees, the latter acquired a black-and-blue color. Lips turned black, foam came out of the mouth.
The performers were most afraid of the possibility of breakage. In the first quarter of the 20th century, the machine was tested on a large piece of meat. Later, the law determined the mandatory presence of a qualified electrician during the entire execution. In the event of a power failure, he was responsible for the immediate connection of the electric chair to the diesel generator installed in almost all "death rooms".
1900 volts and 7.5 amps: the perfect combination for the kill. Private count
The American court chronicles mention an accident that occurred in 1938 in the Huntsville prison (Texas), when the convict was already put on a chair. The chair could not be turned on for several hours, and all this time the convict repeated: “Pardon! Pardon! It's God's will!" As a result, the execution was postponed for three days, despite thousands of demonstrators who rallied outside the prison building in defense of the convict. Do not think that age-old practice has brought clear improvements in the process of electric shock.
Another failure occurred in July 1989 during the execution of Horace Dunkens in Alabama. Due to a wiring defect, the first discharge did not kill the convict. It took the electricians about ten minutes to fix the problem, and all the while the heart of Dunkens, tied to a chair, was beating furiously. His death was announced nineteen minutes after the first discharge.
In December 1984, the New York Times published an article describing the execution of Alpha Otis Stephen, which took place in a Georgia prison. The convict resisted electric discharges for a long time: “The first lasted two minutes, but did not kill him, for the next two he continued to fight and resist. After that, the doctors examined him and declared that he was still alive.
Then he was given an additional discharge of the same duration as the first. But the witnesses of the execution saw that he was still breathing.” The newspaper clarifies: "In six minutes - the time allotted for cooling the body so that the doctors can examine it - the convict took another twenty-three breaths."
Complete technical defeat
Many experts today believe that electrocution has been a complete fiasco. Of course, many convicts die, so to speak, “normally”, but there are also many who depart to another world only at the cost of unbearable suffering.
In 1983 in Alabama, thirty-three-year-old John Louis Evans died after only three shocks of thirty seconds and 1900 volts each, which he received in fourteen minutes. Thirty witnesses saw "an arc of fire erupt from under his mask. Smoke came out from under the electrode on the right leg. The strap that fixed the leg caught fire and broke. After the second discharge, the convict's lawyers contacted Governor George Wallace to stop the procedure, which turned into unbearably cruel torture. The governor turned down the petition, and John Evans received a third, this time a lethal discharge.
In 1985, the execution of William Vandevere in Indiana required five shocks of 2,250 volts each. The execution lasted seventeen minutes. Even after the third discharge, the doctor declared that the convict's heart was still beating at a frequency of forty beats per minute.
Many doctors claim that convicts lose consciousness after the first discharge, and even if the heart continues to beat and the lungs work, during subsequent discharges, the condemned no longer feel anything.
This statement completely refutes the execution of Judo, which we have already written about, as well as the execution in 1946 of a young black man named Willie Francis. He was one of the youngest people in history to be electrocuted: he was barely seventeen when he was executed.
A witness to the execution says: “I saw the performer turn on the current. The convict's lips swelled, his body began to arch. I heard the executioner yelling at the executioner to turn up the pressure because Willie Francis wasn't dead. But the executioner replied that he had already given the maximum current. Willie Francis yelled, “Stop! Let me breathe!"
The execution was stopped. The survivor said: “I felt a burning sensation on my head and on my leg. Multi-colored specks flickered. After deliberation, the Supreme Court ruled that nothing prevented the execution of a miraculous survivor. Willie Francis was put back in his chair, and this time he died on the first shock.
In 1972, the US Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in Furman v. Georgia. The court made this extremely important decision, determining that the death penalty was applied "arbitrarily and unreasonably" and, in violation of the constitution, turned into a cruel and inhuman punishment.
As a result, more than a thousand suicide bombers changed the preventive measure to life imprisonment. Criminals such as Charles Manson, the killer of actress Sharon Tate, Sirhan-Sirhan, the killer of Bob Kennedy, chuckling, left the "corridor of death."
As a result of this decision, some states have begun to revise the legislation. In 1976, the Supreme Court, in Gregg v. Georgia, ruled that the death penalty was not unconstitutional, approving laws revised by some states.
Thirty-six states have changed their laws since the Furman ruling, and today they provide for the death penalty for aggravated murder.
For several decades now, the technology of electrocution has remained virtually unchanged. The principle of operation of the electric chair is the same everywhere, although there are certain differences between the states in terms of the duration of the discharge and the voltage, which varies from 1750 to 2500 volts depending on the apparatus.
The execution itself and the preparation for it take place according to clearly established regulations, which are sometimes so detailed in by-laws that it turns into a real ritual.
The death ritual in the electric chair is similar to that of other execution methods used in the United States. When the countdown begins, the prisoner is taken out of the "corridor of death" and placed in a cell called the "special death cell" or "death chamber". Here the convict spends his last days under continuous round-the-clock supervision. All personal belongings are taken from the suicide bomber. The death certificate is drawn up in advance with the note "Legitimate execution by electric current."
A few hours before the execution, the handcuffed prisoner is brought to the "preparation room". In this room, located next to the execution room, the condemned is subjected to a thorough inspection. Examine all openings - nose, ears, mouth, anus - checking if anything is hidden there, in particular metal objects that can interfere with the killing procedure.
Examination of the body began to be carried out after the incident with a certain Albert Fish, who drove several dozen long metal needles into his body in order to disrupt the course of the execution. He was sure that with a discharge of 2000 volts, the needles would come out of the body, turning it into a porcupine. Nothing of the sort happened.
After the inspection, the guard cuts the sentenced man's hair with a buzz cut, then shaves off the square on the top of his head for a secure fit of the helmet electrodes.
Then the handcuffs are removed from the convict and sent to the shower, located in the corner of the room. He is given five or six minutes to bathe, after which he is put on a suit provided by the correctional facility. He can choose to stay barefoot or wear socks.
The execution of Richard (Bruno) Hauptmann in 1935. Photo "Keyston".
The death penalty in the electric chair of Willy Bragg, who killed his wife. The execution took place in Mississippi on a new chair improved by Jimmy Thompson. Engraving. Private count
States applying electric shock
In 1992, the electric chair was a legal method of execution in 14 states of America: Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia.
Previously, portable electric chairs were used in Louisiana and Mississippi. If necessary, they were brought to prisons and connected to generators located outside the execution room.
The youngest victims of electrocution were George Stinney, who was executed at the age of 16 in South Carolina in 1944 for murder, and the Frenchman William Francis, who was executed at the age of 17 in Louisiana in 1946.
Usually, while dressing, the confessor comes, and the director of the prison promises the convict that he will die instantly and without pain.
While the convict is being prepared, the deputy director solemnly welcomes official witnesses appointed by the convict himself, as well as journalists chosen by lot. The "witness room" is opposite the chair, behind which is a small nook with the electrical equipment of the killing machine.
Having seated the witnesses, the deputy director gives them written instructions, which, in particular, recommend that they behave with dignity and, under no pretext, communicate with the convict in any way. Witnesses are informed that an ambulance will be on duty during the execution, in case one of them becomes unwell.
The direct telephone lines between the death room and the offices of the Attorney General and the Governor are checked for the last time - there is always the possibility of a last-second pardon.
As soon as the prisoner is dressed, he is again handcuffed and takes the last steps to separate him from the electric chair. He enters, escorted by four guards, the director of the prison, and a chaplain. He sees a chair.
The "electric chair" is a large three- or four-legged oak chair, often painted white, sitting on a thick rubber carpet and bolted to the floor.
Every electric chair in the US is unique. In some states, they are made by firms or local artisans to specifications provided by the Department of Justice. In other states, they are created by the prisoners themselves. Like, for example, the electric chair of the famous Rayford prison in Florida. It was made by prisoners in 1924 from an oak tree cut down on the territory of the prison.
Warning lights are often used to indicate that "the chair is energized." The seat has a black rubber mat. The back of the chair is continued by two vertical posts twenty-five centimeters high, which serve to fix the head of the convict. Hands are tied to the armrests. In front between the legs there is a wooden plank that serves to fix the ankles.
In most cases, the convicted person is immobilized with seven straps: one for the lower back, one for the chest, one for the head, two for the wrists, two for the ankles.
The executioner, working anonymously, is in another room.
Location of the electrodes
Behind the chair on the wall is an electrical cabinet with two cables coming out of it. Attached to the same wall is a box containing "accessories": a helmet and a contact plate, "gaiters" and gloves of performers.
The helmet is made of thick leather, equipped with a chin strap and a special strip ten by twenty centimeters, with which the convict's eyes are closed. A "contact plate" is placed inside - a curved copper piece ten centimeters in diameter, with a rod protruding above the helmet in the center, to which the first electrode is attached.
S. T. Judy's press conference prior to his execution in Michigan City in 1981. Photo "Keyston".
The inside of the helmet is covered with a thin layer of natural sponge. It provides a tighter fit to the helmet and hides the smell of burnt flesh. Previously, the electrode was attached directly to the head of the convict, which led to serious burns and a terrible stench. However, even today, witnesses claim that the execution is accompanied by a terrible smell. The contact plate and sponge are often dipped in a solution of salted water to improve conductivity.
The director of the correctional facility invites the convict to make a statement, after which a helmet is put on his head.
"Gaiter" is also leather. It is usually twenty centimeters long and eight wide. The right trouser leg is cut off at the knee and a "gaiter" with an inner layer of metal, usually lead, foil is put on the shaved ankle. On one side, a copper plate with a threaded rod protruding outward is fixed, to which the second electrode is attached.
The passage of current through the contact plate of the helmet to the electrode on the ankle, through the lungs and heart, and leads to the death of the convict.
Were the Americans themselves the first to question the infallibility of electrocution? Probably because almost all the states where it is practiced have passed laws requiring an autopsy to be performed immediately after an execution.
The state of New York gave the reason without false modesty: "To eliminate any possibility of returning the object to life." On August 23, 1991, in Greensville, Virginia, Derrick Peterson received a discharge of 1725 volts for 10 seconds, then 240 volts for 90 seconds. When the body was removed from the chair, the doctor ascertained the presence of a pulse. The operation had to be repeated.
Electric shock theoretically proceeds as a continuous automatic cycle for two minutes. When the executioner applies a current of 1900-2500 volts - depending on the model of the chair used - it gets on the copper wires of the contact plate of the helmet, from which the convict should instantly lose consciousness and no longer feel pain.
Grim Collection
In May 1972, a unique collection of Michael Foreman, an English shipowner, who collected several hundred instruments of torture and killing from the 7th century to the present day, was sold at the Christie auction. The result of the auction - more than a million dollars.
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