The electric chair 1889 - ?

America was never very good at carrying out executions by hanging, the method it had inherited from Britain. Too many prisoners died slowly by strangulation and even occasionally, if the drop was too long, by decapitation.
America has always been keen to seem "modern" in its execution methods - witness the invention of the gas chamber and more recently lethal injection. So it comes as little surprise that it should be the first country to introduce electricity as the preferred method.
After a particularly cruel hanging of a woman in New York, state Governor David B Hill was searching for a more acceptable form of execution. He set up a legislative committee in 1886 to examine other methods and at a time when there was a lot of interest and experimentation with electricity, it was perhaps obvious that a politician would opt for a new "more scientific" method such as electrocution.
The first electric chair was designed in 1888/9. Although the stated reason for its development was that it was to be a more humane method of execution, there was also another interesting reason.
In the 1880's, electricity was a new and novel power source. Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse were the two major players in the struggle to control electrical utilities. Technical and economic circumstances made Westinghouse's alternating current superior to Edison's direct current. Alternating current was soon adopted as the standard for electrical transmission worldwide. Edison had tried to convince everyone that Westinghouse's AC current was unsafe and was delighted when New YorkState introduced the electric chair, which required alternating current.
The electric chair was used in 27 states at one time or another and also by the Philippines, the only country outside the USA to use it.

Into law in New York.

On June 4th 1888, the New York Legislature passed Chapter 489 of Laws of New York of 1888, providing for the execution by "a current of electricity of sufficient intensity to cause death" for offences committed after January 1st, 1889.
There was one small problem - New York did not possess an electric chair and had to commission Harold Brown, an electrician, to build a chair for each of the 3 prisons where executions were to take place - Auburn, Sing Sing and Clinton. This seemed a very generous provision for an average of 8 executions per annum statewide.
Brown favoured Westinghouse's alternating current for the purpose which made him most unpopular with George Westinghouse who was trying to promote it as a safe form of domestic energy. Westinghouse refused to supply Brown with the necessary generators and he was forced to buy second-hand units.
The chairs were solid constructions made from oak and each had two electrodes, one for the head and one for the lower back.

The execution of William Kemmler August 6th 1890.

William Kemmler was convicted of the murder of his lover Tillie Ziegler and became the first man to be sentenced to death under the new law.
Kemmler's lawyers appealed citing the 8th and 14th amendments to the American Constitution which prohibit "cruel and unusual punishment." The appeal was turned down on October 9th, 1889 and the execution date was fixed for August 6th, 1890. It was a strangely casual affair carried out in the presence of 25 witnesses, 14 of them doctors. Kemmler was led into the execution chamber in the basement of Auburn prison and was introduced to the witnesses before taking off his coat and sitting himself into the chair.
The head and spinal electrodes each consisted of a 4-inch diameter wooden cup containing a 3-inch diameter metal plate faced with a layer of sponge which was soaked in brine to improve conductivity.
Kemmler was strapped into the chair by leather straps around his arms, legs and waist. The head electrode in a leather harness was applied and a black cloth was pulled over his face. The warden, Charles Durston, gave the signal to Edwin Davis, the executioner, to throw the switch which caused Kemmler to go completely rigid.
He remained in this condition for 17 seconds until the current was turned off and then his whole body appeared to relax. He was certified dead but after half a minute, there were a series of spasmodic movements of the chest which tended to indicate that he was not in fact dead, and the warden ordered a second charge of electricity which lasted about 70 seconds until vapour and later smoke could be seen rising from the spinal electrode accompanied by the smell of burning flesh.
At this point, the current was again switched off and the body carefully examined. There were no signs of life and Kemmler was dead. Not everyone was impressed by the "humanity" of the new method and an expert interviewed for the New York Times said that the execution was "an awful botch, Kemmler was literally roasted to death".

Women in the chair.

Martha Place became the first woman to die in the electric chair when she was executed on March 20th, 1899 at New York's Sing Sing prison for the murder of her stepdaughter, Ida, in February of the same year.
An account of the execution in the National Police Gazette said she was guided into the death chamber, clutching a Bible. "Her eyes were closed, she was dressed in a black gown with a few fancy frills at the bosom. She wore russet slippers." A spot had been clipped near the crown of her head to make room for the electrode. Another electrode was fastened to her leg. A current of 1,760 volts went through her body in an execution that was "successful in every way." The physician who pronounced her dead was also a woman.
Twenty five women have been electrocuted in America in the 20th century and one in the 21st century.
Ruth Snyder who was executed January 12th, 1928, aged 33, became the subject of a very famous photograph taken at the moment of her death by New York Daily News photographer, Tom Howard, using a hidden 16-millimeter one-shot camera strapped to his ankle, with the shutter release controlled from his pocket. She had been convicted of murdering her husband.
Judias Buenoano was the first woman to have been electrocuted since the resumption of executions in 1977. She went to the electric chair in Florida's Starke prison on March 30th, 1998 for 4 murders, her execution taking 12 minutes to carry out. She was dubbed the "Black Widow" by the press. Lynda Lyon Block was electrocuted in Alabama's electric chair, "The Yellow Momma" on May 10th, 2002 for the murder of a policeman in Opelika on October 4th, 1993. She may well be the last person to suffer this death in America and will almost certainly be the last woman. Her execution was described thus : Wearing a white prison outfit with her shaved head covered by a black hood and wearing light makeup, with mascara and a light shade of pink lipstick she was led into the execution room at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. Witnesses said she appeared to pray with her eyes closed about 11:52 p.m. She made no final statement. When the execution began, a 2,050-volt, 20-second shock Block clenched her fists, her body tensed and steam came from the sponge on her head and the electrode on her left leg. She then received 250 volts for 100 seconds. The whole execution took just two minutes.

Modern electrocutions.

152 men and 2 women have been electrocuted in the U.S.A. since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1977, up to September 2007, making it the second most common method in the US (after lethal injection).  Ten electrocutions have taken place in the 21st century of which five were consensual.
They were :

Date	State	Name	Age
7th January 2000	Alabama	David Ray Duren	37
3rd March 2000	Alabama	Freddie Lee Wright	48
14th April 2000	Alabama	Robert Tarver	52
2nd June 2000	Alabama	Pernell Ford	35
6th July 2000	Virginia	Michael Clagett	39
10th May 2002	Alabama	Lynda Lyon Block	54
28th May 2004	South Carolina	James Neil Tucker	47
20th July 2006	Virginia	Brandon Hedrick	27
12th Sept 2007	Tennessee	Daryl Holton	45
20th June 2008	South Carolina	James Earl Reed	49

It is still a legal method in nine states - Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. All of these states permit the inmate the choice of lethal injection.  On the 26th of April 2002, the state Governor of Alabama, Don Siegelman, signed a law making lethal injection the primary method of execution there from July 1st, 2002, unless they choose the electric chair. On January 6th, 2000, the Florida Senate passed a bill by a vote of 102-5 to give death row inmates the option of lethal injection rather than the electric chair. Apparently they have all elected lethal injection. Georgia's highest court struck down the state's use of the electric chair on October 5th, 2001 on the basis that death by electrocution "inflicts purposeless physical violence and needless mutilation that makes no measurable contribution to accepted goals of punishment.'' Ohio altered its law to allow only lethal injection in November 2001.

Alabama carried out the first electrocution of the new millennium when it put David Ray Duren to death for the robbery and murder of a young girl on the 7th of January 2000. Alabama’s “Yellow Momma”, as its chair is known, was last used on the 10th of May 2002 for the execution of Lynda Lyon Block. The electric chair was not used at all in 2001 and 2005. Virginia electrocuted 61 year old Earl Conrad Bramblett on the 9th of April 2003. Bramblett, who had been convicted of the murders of a family of 4, had elected to die this way as a protest against the death penalty. He was strapped into the oak chair and given an initial burst of 1,800 volts for 30 seconds. Bramblett's body tensed against the leather and nylon straps, his hands were clenched into white knuckled fists, his knees slowly opened and his skin turned bright red around the leather face mask. The first jolt was followed by 240 volts for 60 seconds, and then the entire cycle was repeated. A small stream of smoke wafted up from his right leg during the second cycle. He was certified dead 5 minutes later.
James Neil Tucker elected to die by electrocution in South Carolina on the 29th of May 2004 for a double murder committed in 1994.  The execution appears to have gone smoothly.  Prisoners sentenced there before 1995 have the choice between electrocution and injection but if they make no choice, then death is by electrocution. Brandon Wayne Hendrick was put to death in Virginia on the 20th of July 2006.  He chose electrocution over lethal injection.
On the 12th of September 2007 Daryl Holton was executed in Tennessee’s electric chair for the murder of his four children in 1997.  He had elected to die in this manner and it appears that the execution went smoothly.  He received an initial shock of 1750 volts for 20 seconds, followed by a second shock of the same voltage for 15 seconds.
James Earl Reed chose death in South Carolina’s electric chair and was executed at the Broad River Correctional Institute just after 11.30 p.m. on Friday the 20th of June 2008. Reed was electrocuted for the shooting murder of a former girlfriend’s parents. South Carolina permits inmates to choose between electrocution and lethal injection.

Execution procedure.

After being led into the execution chamber, the prisoner is strapped into the chair with leather belts across the chest, thighs, legs, and arms. Two copper electrodes are then attached - one to the leg, a patch of which will have been shaved bare to improve conductivity, and the other contained within a helmet to the shaved head. The electrodes are either soaked in brine or treated with gel (Electro-Creme) to increase conductivity and reduce burning.
A leather face mask or black face cloth is applied. The prisoner will also be wearing a diaper.
The executioner presses a button on the control panel to deliver a first shock of between 1,700 and 2,400 volts, which lasts for between 20 seconds and a minute. This is automatically timed and controlled. The current must be under 6 amps to ensure the body does not cook. Smoke usually comes out of the prisoner's leg and head. A doctor then examines the prisoner, who if not dead, is given a further shock (In some states, this is done automatically by the control gear)
A third and fourth are given if necessary. (It took 5 jolts to kill Ethel Rosenberg)
On average, the process takes 2 minutes,10 seconds and two shocks are given.
The first shock runs for up to one minute and normally destroys the brain and central nervous system. It also causes complete paralysis due to every muscle in the body contracting and staying contracted whilst the current is flowing. This makes heartbeat and respiration impossible. The second shock continues the process to ensure the heartbeat does not resume. The prisoner is supposed to be rendered unconscious in 1/240th of a second.
After electrocution, the body temperature rises to about 138^oF and is initially too hot to touch. Heating destroys the body's proteins and "bakes" the organs.
Physical reactions include heaving chest, gurgles, foaming at the mouth, bloody sweat, burning of the hair and skin, and release of faeces.
The body has to be allowed to cool before an autopsy can be performed.
According to Robert H. Kirschner, the deputy chief medical examiner of Cook County, Illinois, "The brain appears cooked in most cases."
According to Judge Brennan, the prisoner's eyeballs sometimes pop out and rest on his cheeks. The prisoner often defecates, urinates, vomits blood and drool. The body turns bright red as its temperature rises, and the prisoner's flesh swells and his skin stretches to the point of breaking. Sometimes the prisoner catches on fire, particularly if he perspires excessively. Witnesses hear a loud and sustained sound like bacon frying, and the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh permeates the chamber.
There is some debate about what the electrocuted prisoner experiences before he dies, many doctors believe that he feels himself being burned to death and suffocating, since the shock causes respiratory paralysis as well as cardiac arrest. According to Harold Hillman, "It must feel very similar to the medieval trial by ordeal of being dropped in boiling oil." Because the energy of the shock paralyses the prisoner's muscles, he cannot cry out. "My mouth tasted like cold peanut butter. I felt a burning in my head and my left leg, and I jumped against the straps," Willie Francis, a 17-year-old who survived an attempted execution in 1946, is reported to have said. Francis was successfully executed a year later.

When things go wrong.

Though all methods of execution can be botched, electrocutions go wrong frequently and dramatically, in part because the equipment is old and hard to repair. At least 5 have gone awry since 1983. A particularly appalling instance of this took place on the 4th of May 1990, in the case of Jesse Joseph Tafero in Florida. According to witnesses, when the executioner flipped the switch, flames and smoke came out of Tafero's head, which was covered by a mask and cap. Twelve-inch blue and orange flames sprouted from both sides of the mask. The power was stopped, and Tafero took several deep breaths. The superintendent ordered the executioner to halt the current, then try it again. And again.
Apparently a synthetic sponge, soaked in brine, had been substituted for the natural one applied to Tafero's head. This reduced the flow of electricity to as little as 100 volts, and ended up torturing the prisoner to death. According to the state prison medical director, Frank Kligo, who attended, it was "less than aesthetically attractive."
Another electrocution in Florida went seriously wrong in 1997 when Pedro Medina was executed on the 25th of March. Witnesses saw a blue and orange flame shoot 6-10 inches out of the helmet covering Medina's head. It burned for about 10 seconds, filling the chamber with acrid smoke and the smell of burning flesh.
An investigation by prison officials blamed the flare-up on a corroded brass screen used in the helmet.
Michael Morse and Jay Wiechart, both experienced in electric chair design and operation, blamed the malfunction on a dry sponge used in conjunction with a wet sponge in the helmet.
Electrocution was challenged through the Florida courts, by death row inmate Leo Jones as a "cruel and unusual" punishment, something which is banned under the American constitution.
However, a Florida Supreme Court hearing ruled by 3 to 1 on the 21st of October 1997,  that its use did not constitute cruel or unusual punishment.
Yet another electrocution in Florida seemed to be botched in 1999 when Allen Lee "Tiny" Davis was executed for murder on the 9th of July.
Blood appeared to ooze from Davis' nose and mouth as he was hit with 2,300 volts at 7:10 a.m. But the governor's office said it was simply a nosebleed. The official photographs of the execution seem to bear this out. (These photographs can be viewed on the Florida Supreme Court website and are not suitable for those of a squeamish disposition.)
By the time Davis was pronounced dead 5 minutes later, there was blood on the collar of his white shirt, and the blood on his chest had spread to about the size of a dinner plate, even oozing through the buckle holes on the leather chest strap holding him to the chair.
"Nothing went wrong," said Cory Tilley, a spokesman for Gov. Jeb Bush. "The chair functioned as it was designed to function and we're comfortable that that worked." Tilley said that despite how things seemed to witnesses of the execution, there was no blood from the mouth or chest.
"The only source of blood was from the nose. He had a nosebleed. Why that was will be in the autopsy." Tilley said there was some speculation the nosebleed was caused by Davis' high blood pressure.
The photographs of the execution showed "distinct signs of pain," according to Dr. Donald Price, a neurophysiologist who was commenting upon Davis' half-shut eyes, scrunched-up nose and bruises on his face.
A physicist who specialises in the effects of electricity testified that it was possible for an inmate to remain conscious 15 to 30 seconds into the execution.
"It's my opinion that death is not instantaneous and make take several minutes," said Dr. John Wikswo of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
The autopsy report said Davis had "several predisposing risk factors" for nosebleeds, including hypertension and arthritis that required him to take blood-thinners.

Florida had a new oak chair built in 1998 to replace the original one built in 1923.(see picture) Attorneys acting for Allen Lee Davis claimed that state Department of Corrections documents show the chair may be operating with "obsolete breakers" and outdated electrical components that it was proposed to replace in April 1999. Florida decided not to install the new parts, including leg and head electrodes, apparently due to the $265,000 cost.

The electric chair seems to possess an especially gruesome fascination and has been the subject of many films.

Back to Contents page The Gas chamber Lethal Injection Nicholas Ingram