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Hanged by the neck until dead! |
Contents
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Introduction.
Hanging is the oldest but most widely used method of execution in the world
today. Up to 454 men and 4 women were hanged in ten countries during 2007, some
in public. These being,
Hanging
remains the standard method of execution in many retentionist countries,
notably
It was used extensively in
Hanging
originated as a method of execution in
There is
no means of knowing how many people have hanged worldwide in the last 2,000
years but it is probably at least half a million. From 1800 and 1964, over
5,000 people suffered death by hanging in
Hanging was the normal form of execution in many countries up to the end of the
19th century when there was a general trend to abolition or to use more humane
methods than the type of hanging used at that time (short drop). It was the standard
method in
The processes of judicial hanging.
There are 4 main forms of hanging.
- Short drop
hanging where the prisoner drops just a few inches, and their suspended
body weight and physical struggling causes the noose to tighten, normally
resulting in death by strangulation or carotid or Vagal reflex. Pole hanging is a variation on this
method.
- Suspension
hanging where the executee is lifted into the air using a crane or other
mechanism. Death is caused in the same way as with short drop hanging.
- Standard drop
hanging where the prisoner drops a predetermined amount, typically 4-6
feet, which may or may not break their neck. This was the normal method
adopted in
- Finally,
measured or long drop hanging as practised in
Each of these processes are examined in detail below.
The "Short
Drop" method.
Hanging
using little or no drop is still used by some Middle Eastern countries,
notably,
Short drop hanging was effectively universal up to around 1850 and was usually
carried out in public. The prisoner could be suspended by a variety of means,
from the back of a cart (or later a motor vehicle), from a horse as was
sometimes used in America, by removing the platform on which they stood, as was
used in Nazi hangings and also in present day Iranian ones carried out inside
prisons, or by some form of trap door drop mechanism as was used in Britain
from 1760 and adopted by many other countries.
This 1809 picture of the triple hanging on the “New Drop” gallows
outside the Debtor's Door of Newgate in
Suspension hanging.
This
method is currently used in
In
Standard drop
hanging.
A
standardised drop, of between four and six feet, was used in many American
hangings during the later part of the 19th century and into the early 20th
century. This was not worked out against the weight of the individual, but was
often equivalent to their height. It was considered as an advance on the short drop
method previously used. A drop of this distance was often not sufficient to
break the prisoner's neck, however, and many still died by strangulation,
although in a lot of cases they were knocked unconscious by the force of the
drop and the impact of the heavy coiled knot against the side of the neck.
Occasionally, they were decapitated when the drop proved to be too long, as
happened at the execution of Eva Dugan in
The "Long drop" or measured drop method.
In
1872, William Marwood introduced the concept of an accurately
calculated drop for the execution of Frederick Horry
at
The long drop method was designed to break the prisoner’s neck by allowing them
to fall a pre-determined distance and then be brought up with a sharp jerk by
the rope. At the end of the drop, the body is still accelerating under the
force of gravity but the head is constrained by the noose. If the eyelet
is positioned under the left angle of the jaw it rotates the head backwards,
which combined with the downward momentum of the body, breaks the neck and
ruptures the spinal cord causing instant deep unconsciousness and rapid death.
The later use of the brass eyelet in the noose tended to break the neck with
more certainty.
The accurately measured and worked out drop removed most of the prisoner's
physical suffering and made the whole process far less traumatic for the
officials who now had to witness it in the confines of the execution shed
instead of in the open air.
The drop given in the 19th century was usually between 4 and 10 feet depending
on the weight and strength of the prisoner. The weight used to calculate the
correct drop is that of the prisoner's body. Up to 1892, the length of drop was
calculated to provide a final "striking" force of approximately 1,260
lbs. force which combined with the positioning of the eyelet caused fracture
and dislocation of the neck, usually at the 2nd and 3rd or 4th and 5th cervical
vertebrae. This is the classic "hangman's fracture". The length of
the drop was worked out by the formula 1,260 foot pounds divided by the body
weight of the prisoner in pounds = drop in feet. Between 1892 and 1913, a
shorter length of drop was used, probably to avoid the decapitation and near
decapitations that had occurred with old table. After 1913, other factors were
also taken into account and the drop was calculated to give a final
"striking" force of around 1,000 lbs. The Home Office issued a rule
restricting all drops to between 5 and 8 feet 6 inches as this had been found
to be an adequate range. In
A proper table of drops for hangmen to use was issued by the Home Office in
1892 and were subsequently revised in 1913. The 1913 table is
still used in
British
drop tables.
The
weight of the prisoner is the weight recorded when they were weighed, clothed,
the day before execution.
|
1892 table |
1913 table |
||
|
Weight of prisoner |
Drop in feet & inches |
Weight of prisoner |
Drop in feet & inches |
|
105 & under |
8’ 0” |
- |
- |
|
110 |
7’ 10” |
- |
- |
|
115 |
7’ 3” |
118 & under |
8’ 6” |
|
120 |
7’ 0” |
120 |
8’ 4” |
|
125 |
6’ 9” |
125 |
8’ 0” |
|
130 |
6’ 5” |
130 |
7’ 8” |
|
135 |
6’ 2” |
135 |
7’ 5” |
|
140 |
6’ 0” |
140 |
7’ 2” |
|
145 |
5’ 9” |
145 |
6’ 11” |
|
150 |
5’ 7” |
150 |
6’ 8” |
|
155 |
5’ 5” |
155 |
6’ 5” |
|
160 |
5’ 3” |
160 |
6’ 3” |
|
165 |
5’ 1” |
165 |
6’ 1” |
|
170 |
4’ 11” |
170 |
5’ 10” |
|
175 |
4’ 9” |
175 |
5’ 8” |
|
180 |
4’ 8” |
180 |
5’ 7” |
|
185 |
4’ 7” |
185 |
5’ 5” |
|
190 |
4’5” |
190 |
5’ 3” |
|
195 |
4’ 4” |
195 |
5’ 2” |
|
200 & over |
4’ 2” |
200 & over |
5’ 0” |
The
American Military manual specifies broadly similar drops to the above.
The graph below shows how long it takes to drop a given distance.
How hanging causes death.
Short drop and simple suspension hanging.
Hanging with little or no drop may cause death by strangulation (asphyxia) due
to the weight of the person's body on the noose, causing it to tighten, so
constricting the trachea (air passage). In this case the condemned typically
exhibit signs of physical struggling for some time after suspension, 1-3
minutes being normal. The next phase can be described as the convulsive phase,
and you can read reports of executions in the 18th/19th centuries where the
person was said to be “greatly convulsed” The
legs were drawn up and their chests heaved but that does not necessarily indicate
consciousness.
It was often reported in the 17th and 18th centuries that the prisoner died
"almost without a struggle” and they would be seen to writhe in pain for
just a few seconds, if at all, before going limp. This is because of pressure
of the tightening noose occluding the jugular vein and carotid arteries causing
cerebral ischemia, i.e. a severely reduced blood supply to the brain. Compression
of the carotid bodies by the noose can also cause rapid heart stoppage due to
carotid sinus reflex. In a recent public
hanging in
The vertebrae protect the vertebral and spinal arteries which also supply blood
to the brain. However, these arteries go outside the fourth vertebrae instead
of inside it, which subjects them to blockage if the pressure on the neck is
high enough (usually about 40-50 lbs. for a normal person) and this can cause
the loss of consciousness in less than 15 seconds. During suspension, once the
prisoner has become unconsciousness, rippling movements of the body and limbs
may occur for some time which are usually attributed
to nervous and muscular reflexes. Where death has been caused by strangulation,
the face will typically have become engorged and cyanosed (turned blue through
lack of oxygen). There will be the classic sign of strangulation - petechiae - little blood marks on the face and in the eyes
from burst blood capillaries. The tongue may protrude. Where death has occurred
through carotid or Vagal reflex, the face will typically be pale in colour and
not show petechiae. There exist many reports and
pictures of actual short drop hangings which seem to show that the person died
quickly and fairly peacefully, while others indicate a slow and agonising death
by strangulation.
Occasionally, a prisoner can be revived, even after hanging for half an hour
and there are several recorded cases of this where people lived for many years
afterwards. In Britain, to prevent survival, a slightly longer drop of about
12-18 inches became normal to ensure death, however, this extra drop tended to
cause the condemned to suffer more as it was not long enough to break the neck
but the force of it tore the neck muscles and sometimes the skin.
“Pole hanging”.
Austria,
Czechoslovakia and Hungary used an unusual variant of short drop hanging. There was no gallows as such, but rather a
stout vertical wooden pole (or post) of about 2-3 meters height with a metal
hook or eye bolt at the top to which a thin rope noose was attached. There was either a small ladder or steps up
to a small platform at the back of the pole for the executioner to stand
on. The pinioned prisoner was placed
with their back to the pole and then lifted up either manually by the hangman’s
assistants, on a simple board platform or by a cloth sling running under their
armpits so that the executioner could put the noose round their neck. At the signal they were now jerked downwards
by the assistants thus tightening the noose.
This jerk combined with the thinness of the cord typically caused a
carotid reflex and led to rapid unconsciousness. Late 19th century Austrian hangman, Josef
Lang, considered this method to be far more humane than American style standard
drop hanging and claimed that no criminal suffered for more than a minute with
his method. It is unclear when pole
hanging ceased although it was definitely in use until after the end of World
War 2 and was used on various war criminals.
A video of the hanging of Karl Hermann Frank which took place on the
22nd of May 1946 in Prague’s Pankrác Prison is
currently available on YouTube. He was lifted up to the top of the pole by a
sling and then dropped about a meter, the hangman covering Frank’s face with
his hand. This film clearly demonstrates how pole hanging worked and does not
give the impression that Frank struggled after suspension. There are also photos of the execution of
Serbs by the Austrians during the war.
It is quite probable that Milada Horakova (female) who was convicted of treason by the
communist regime in Czechoslovakia suffered this death when she was hanged on
27th of June 1950. It has been reported
that her executioner was ordered to “let the bitch suffocate”.
After the end of World War 2, Albert Pierrepoint who hanged eight men in
Austria for war crimes, taught Austrian hangmen the British method and this was
used for the last few executions there.
Austria’s last execution took place on the 24th of March 1950 when
Johann Trnka was hanged for murder. It is not known whether Czechoslovakia and
Hungary continued to use pole hanging or a more conventional gallows for
executions from the 1950’s. Czechoslovakia’s last execution was in 1989 and
Hungary’s in 1988.
Standard drop hanging.
Where
the standard drop proves inadequate to break the neck, the prisoner seems often
to suffer a more cruel death than where little or no drop is used. The force
generated by a drop of 5 or 6 feet is very considerable and does great damage
to the skin, muscles and ligaments of the neck but does not necessarily induce
asphyxia any sooner. This description of a hanging at San Quentin prison in
California is from Clinton Duffy who was the warden there from 1942 to 1954 and
relates to the execution of Major Raymond Lisemba on
May 9th, 1942. "The man hit bottom and I observed that he was fighting by
pulling on the straps, wheezing, whistling, trying to get air, that blood was
oozing through the black cap. I observed also that he urinated, defecated, and
droppings fell on the floor, and the stench was terrible". "I also
saw witnesses pass out and have to be carried from the witness room. Some of
them threw up."
It took ten minutes for the condemned man to die. When he was taken down and
the cap removed, "big hunks of flesh were torn off" the side of his
face where the noose had been, "his eyes were popped," and his tongue
was "swollen and hanging from his mouth. His face had turned purple."
Fortunately not all standard drop hangings were so gruesome and many prisoners
did not show any signs of physical suffering.
The
measured or long drop.
It
takes between a half and three quarters of a second for a person to reach the
end of the drop after the trap opens. The force produced by the prisoner's body
weight multiplied by the length of fall and the force of gravity, coupled with
the position of the noose is designed to violently jerk the person’s head
backwards and sideways. This causes a fracture-dislocation of the upper neck
vertebrae, ideally between the C2 & C3 vertebrae, which crushes or severs
the spinal cord leading to immediate unconsciousness. The cause of death
is comatose asphyxia. It is thought that brain death will occur in around 6
minutes and whole body death normally within 10-15 minutes. It is very
variable, however, with official reports of from 3-25 minutes for total death
to have occurred. Some slight movements of the limbs and body may
occasionally occur but are almost certainly due to spinal reflexes. Here
is an official government photograph of the long drop hanging of
an Iranian drug trafficker in
The Post-mortem report.
In 20th century Britain (and
in many other countries), a post-mortem was always carried out on the executed
person's body to establish the exact cause of death and we are fortunate to have
the report of Ruth Ellis' autopsy as carried out by Professor Keith Simpson,
who was one of the most eminent pathologists of his day. I have reproduced it
as closely as possible to the original 1950's typewriter style.
|
POST MORTEM EXAMINATION Name Ellis, Ruth Apparent Age 28 years. At H. M. Prison, Holloway Date July 13 1955. |
|
|
EXTERNAL EXAMINATION How
long dead |
Well
nourished DEEP
IMPRESSIONS AROUND NECK from noose with a suspension point about 1 inch in
front of the angle of the L. lower jaw. |
|
INTERNAL EXAMINATION Skull
... ... ... Basic
Meninges Mouth,
tongue,
Stomach
and contents ... Peritoneum Liver,
and Gall bladder Spleen. Kidneys
and Ureters Generative
organs |
Fracture
- dislocation of the spine at C2 with a 2 inch gap and transverse separation
of the spinal cord at the same level.
Air
passages clear and lungs quite free from disease or other change. No
engorgement. No asphyxial changes. No
organic changes. No petechiae or other evidence of
organic change. Small
food residue, and odour of brandy. No disease.
Terminal
congestion only. Normal. Slight
terminal congestion only.
|
|
Other
remarks ... |
Deceased
was a healthy subject at the time of death. |
|
CAUSE
OF DEATH ... |
Injuries
to the central nervous system |
Signed Keith Simpson
M. D. Lond.
146,
Registrar in Forensic
Note : ecchymoses is the term used for subcutaneous bleeding (i.e.
within the skin)
After death by any form of
hanging, the body will typically show the marks of suspension, e.g. bruising
and rope marks on the neck. In some cases there will have been effusions of
urine and faeces as the sphincter muscles become deprived of oxygen and thus
relax. The opening of the sphincters can also be caused by an adrenaline
rush which is common in circumstances of extreme fear. Total body death results
usually within less than 30 minutes as the brain becomes starved of
oxygen. This was one of the reasons why prisoners were left hanging for
an hour in Britain. It is noteworthy that irrespective of the method of
hanging it seems to take about the same time for total body death to occur.
Experiments were carried out by F.E. Buckland, the assistant director of
pathology, British Army of the Rhine, on Nazi war criminals executed by the
British at Hameln prison in Germany after World War 2
and these found, that although the prisoners were rendered unconscious by the
drop the heart could continue to beat for up to 25 minutes after execution. On
the 8th of March 1946 Albert Pierrepoint hanged eight men at Hameln. The prison doctor listened to their hearts
with a stethoscope in the normal way and recorded his results. These showed
that it took between 10 and 15 minutes for audible heart beats to cease.
On the 15th of May 1946 a further ten executions were carried out and this time
the condemned were wired up to an electrocardiograph, which recorded the
electrical activity of the heart. It showed that impulses were produced for a
further ten minutes; taking the total time to 25 minutes.
Male prisoners sometimes have
penile erections (priapism) after hanging due to the
pooling of blood in the legs and lower body once the heart stops. The original
photograph of the execution of the Lincoln conspirators in America in 1865
appears to show one of the men, Lewis Powell, had an erection after he was
hanged.
Men may also reach orgasm on the rope. Some say this is a myth but it is
notable that in the handwritten autopsy notes of a hanging by Sir Bernard Spilsbury (a very famous pathologist), he states that there
was no "seminal effusion" which implies that he had found this on
occasion. This may be caused by the stimulation of the penis during the
conscious struggling phase, combined with the pressure on the Vagal nerve which
is responsible for sexual arousal.
The gallows.
All manner of patterns of gallows have been used worldwide over the years.
Simple gallows, having an upright with a projecting beam cross braced to it were
commonly used in many countries, even up till the end of the Second World War.
However for a variety of reasons, gallows’ designs became more elaborate. From
1783, the gallows at Newgate in London had a trapdoor and as the concept of
giving the prisoner some drop became more widely used, this style spread. The
earliest use of the "New Drop", as it was called in Britain was on
May 5th, 1760 for the execution of the Earl of Ferrers. This was in the form of
a small box like structure rising about 12 inches from the main platform which
would drop level with the floor when the hangman pulled away the supporting
props.
The American gallows, shown in this picture, is what many of you would
probably imagine a gallows to look like and is from 1894. This style was used
extensively in America and most other countries up until the early part of the
20th century. The present day gallows in Washington's Walla Walla
prison looks most unlike this traditional pattern, consisting simply of two
massive iron eye bolts through which the rope passes, each set over a single
leaf trap operated by an electromagnetic release mechanism. (See picture). America typically used a single leaf trap whereas
Britain and countries which adopted British style hanging typically use(d) a
two leaf trap.
Modern gallows in Australia, Britain, Singapore, Malaysia and former British
colonies typically have no steps and use double trapdoors, normally operated by
a lever on the platform. South Africa used a metal beam that could be used for
up to seven prisoners simultaneously at Pretoria Central Prison prior to
abolition. In early 20th century British execution rooms there were no
uprights, the ends of beam being set into the walls, while later a concealed
beam running above the ceiling was used, as was the case at Pentonville and
Wandsworth prisons in London up to abolition.
Visit the Gallows Galleries for pictures of gallows from
The Noose.
Several
types of noose are in use worldwide. At its simplest, a noose is just a slip
knot fashioned on a length of rope or strong cord. Nazi executioners used this
pattern during World War II, typically made from 6-10 mm thick cord.
The traditional hangman's noose (picture) has from 5 to 13 coils
which slide down the rope delivering a heavy blow to the side of the neck. This
pattern is still used in America and countries such as Iran and Iraq. It tends
to strangle the prisoner rather than break their neck. The modern American
coiled noose is prepared in accordance with a procedure laid down in a U.S.
army manual, from 30 feet of 3/4"-1" diameter manila hemp rope,
boiled to take out stretch and any tendency to coil. It is formed into 6 coils
and then waxed, soaped or greased to assure that the knot slides easily.
Britain and most Commonwealth and ex-Commonwealth countries use(d) a simple
noose consisting of a loop worked into one end of the rope with the other end
passed through it, as shown here.
This was improved in the 1890's by passing the free end of the rope through a
brass eyelet instead of a loop of rope, which made it more free running. This
type of noose has been shown to cause a quicker death. It is usually made from
a 13 foot length of 3/4" diameter hemp rope, often bound with leather, as seen here. This type of noose is used in present day Egypt,
Kuwait, Singapore and Malaysia and in former British colonies. Modern materials
such as Nylon have been tried but tended to be too elastic.
The hood.
In
most countries, at least throughout the 20th century, it has been customary to
hood the prisoner before execution. Normally, a black cotton or denim hood is
used as shown here,
but in some countries, notably
Some places such as Iran do not use a hood, although a blindfold may be used at
some public executions. There are three good reasons for hooding the prisoner.
Firstly, in long drop hangings it is very important that the condemned person
does not move at the last moment, just as the lever is being pulled - which
could easily alter the position of the noose and thus cause them a slower
death.
The second reason is to minimise rope burn and marking of the skin of the neck
which is why the hood is generally put over the head before the noose. This
also prevents the hood being blown off by the updraft created by the body
falling.
Hooding also saves the officials, who have to witness the execution, from
seeing the condemned person's face as they are about to die and after
suspension.
Pinioning.
In
modern times it is normal to pinion the prisoner's hands either in front of
them or more usually behind their back with either handcuffs or a leather
strap. Some countries use handcuffs and some use additional straps for the arms
or even elaborate leather harnesses for the arms and wrists. In long
drop/standard drop hangings, the prisoner's legs are normally pinioned with a
cord or strap around the ankles to prevent them getting their feet onto the
sides of the trap when the doors fall. In Britain, as women's skirts got
shorter in the 20th century, an extra strap was placed round the lower thighs
to prevent the skirt billowing up as they dropped and exposing their underwear.
Thigh straps were also used for men in some countries.
For short drop and suspension hangings, the legs were and still are, often left
free.
Charles Campbell, who was hanged in Washington in May 1994, was strapped to a
special collapse board (visible in the photo of the Walla Walla
gallows, above) as he was not able to support himself at the end. Other
prisoners have been hanged strapped to chairs, both they and the chair falling
through the trap.
Many
countries carry out hanging executions in complete secrecy, e.g.
Compare these to a 1950's British hanging described in my History of Judicial Hanging in Britain.
A
Kuwait hanging in 2004.
Three
men who had been convicted of a particularly cruel murder of a little girl
called Amna Al-Khaledi were
hanged at the Nayef Palace in Kuwait City on Monday
the 31st of May 2004. The prisoners were Marzook
Saad Suleiman Al-Saeed,
aged 25, Saeed Saad
Suleiman Al-Saeed, aged 28, and 24-year-old Kuwaiti Hamad Mubarak Turki
Al-Dihani. They were brought to the Nayef Palace at 8.45 on the Monday morning and were allowed
time to prepare and pray before they were hanged. At about 9.45 they were
led to the white painted metal and wood gallows wearing regulation brown boiler
suits and with their wrists and arms strapped behind them with leather straps.
Here they were made to climb the steps up onto the platform some 10 feet above
and were placed upon individual double trap doors. Each prisoner was
allocated a three man execution team, all wearing black overalls and ski
masks. Once on the trap a leather strap was placed around each man’s
ankles and a British style, leather covered eyelet noose placed over his head,
held in place by a heavy rubber washer and followed by a black hood. They
were given measured drops (of about 7 feet) and afterwards examined by doctors
with stethoscopes to determine the time of death. Marzook
Saad Suleiman Al-Saeed was
pronounced dead after eight minutes, Hamad Al-Dehani took six minutes to die, and Saeed
Saad Suleiman Al-Saeed
expired in five minutes and 20 seconds. The time of death being stated as
when there is no longer a audible heartbeat. From the photographs and the
length of drop it is likely that their necks were broken. There was no
report of any of the men struggling after the drop fell and all seemed to
become limp immediately. The aftermath of the execution was witnessed by
over 1000 people, including Amna’s relatives who were
let into the compound to view the dangling bodies. The scene was
photographed by press photographers for publication in the following day’s
papers. Click
here for a photograph. It is interesting to note that the time taken for
these men to die is about the same as recorded in typical lethal injection
executions in the USA.
Saddam
Hussein hanged in Iraq in 2006.
Probably
the most high profile execution of our time