Who's the chair? Carpenter, electrician, scientist - these are the options that come to mind. You may be surprised to learn that this person's profession was different. In this article we will answer the question: who invented the electric chair? It requires detailed consideration, since the history associated with it is very interesting. At the end of the 19th century he invented the incandescent lamp. Of course, this man is not the one who invented the electric chair. However, this was the first step towards many discoveries related to electricity. This invention, in particular, allowed us to use it to illuminate cities.

Albert Southwick's idea

Many people are interested in the question: who was the creator of the new method of execution? Albert Southwick is believed to be the one who invented the electric chair. His profession is dentist. This man was from Buffalo, New York. The one who invented the electric chair (his profession, as you can see, is somewhat unexpected) believed that it could be used as an anesthetic in medical practice. One day, Albert saw one of the residents of Buffalo touch him. This man died, as Southwick thought then, painlessly and almost instantly. This incident led him to the idea that execution with electricity could replace, as a faster and more humane punishment, hanging, which was used at that time. Southwick first proposed using electricity to get rid of unwanted animals instead of drowning them. Colonel Rockwell, head of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, liked the idea.

Commission conclusion

Southwick conducted a series of experiments on animals in 1882 and published his results in scientific newspapers. It was Albert who is often credited with inventing the electric chair. However, many people took part in its development. In particular, Southwick showed the results of his experiments to David MacMillan, a senator and his friend. He stated that execution using electricity is painless, which is its main advantage. McMillian advocated preservation death penalty. He was attracted to this idea as an argument against its abolition. McMillian conveyed what he heard to D. B. Hill, the governor of New York. In 1886, a special commission was created, which included Southwick (the profession of the man who invented the electric chair was a dentist, as already mentioned), Eluridge Gerry (a politician) and Matthew Hale (a judge). Her conclusion, which was set out in a 95-page report, was that best method execution of a death sentence - execution with the use of electricity. The State was recommended in this report to replace it with new look execution: hanging.

Death penalty law

In 1888, on June 5, the governor signed a corresponding law, which was supposed to come into force in 1889. The only thing left to decide was whether to use type or constant. How are they different? Let's figure it out.

AC and DC current

Scientists from various countries have been working on this issue long before the invention made by Thomas Edison. However, Edison (pictured below) was the first to put into practice the theory developed before him. In 1879 the first power station was built. Edison's system operated on direct current. However, it only flows in one direction, so it was impossible to supply current over a long distance. It was necessary to build power plants to provide electricity to a medium-sized city.

Nikola Tesla, a Croatian scientist, found a solution. He came up with the idea of ​​​​using alternating current, which can change its direction several times per second, creating a magnetic field and without losing electrical voltage. You can step down or step up AC voltage using transformers. Such current can be transmitted over long distances with small losses, after which electricity can be supplied to consumers through a step-down transformer.

Starting to use AC

This system attracted investors, one of whom was George Westinghouse (pictured below).

He wanted to make it profitable to use, but Edison's technology was more popular at that time. It was Edison who worked for Tesla, but he did not pay attention to his developments, and Tesla quit. The scientist soon patented his ideas. Westinghouse bought 40 patents from Tesla in 1888, and within a few years more than a hundred cities were using the alternating current system.

"Clash of the Titans"

In 1887, Edison began to discredit this system by demanding the collection of information from his workers about deaths caused by alternating current. So he hoped to prove that his method was safer for the population.

Clash of the Titans began when the question arose about what type of current should be used for capital punishment. Nikola Tesla (pictured below) at the same time avoided any statements addressed to Thomas and preferred to remain silent. But Thomas smashed Tesla with his characteristic categoricalness and enthusiasm. The “War of Currents” lasted until 2007! In New York, it was only in the 21st century that the last DC wires were symbolically cut. The entire network of America and the whole world was finally transferred to alternating current.

Edison's brochure and speech

Since Edison did not want his invention to be associated in any way with death, he wanted alternating current to be used in an apparatus intended for the death penalty. The scientist published the brochure "Warning" in 1887. In it, he compared direct current with alternating current and pointed out the safety of the latter.

Thomas Edison's speech before the commission made a strong impression. The inventor convinced everyone present that when using alternating current, death from electricity is quick and painless. The commission to resolve this issue was faced with the alternative of using lethal injection, which is considered more humane than execution. electric chair. It was in the 20th century that almost all states where the death penalty existed began to use it. Perhaps many would not have had to suffer in the electric chair if there had not been competition between companies, as well as Thomas Edison’s persuasive speech before the commission. The question was also that executions by lethal injection are carried out by doctors, which for obvious reasons is impossible.

First execution

In 1889, on January 1, the first execution took place using such an invention as the electric chair (its photo is presented below). The unit used for it was called a Westing chair, or Westinghouse chair, until several decades later. The following executions took place in the spring of 1891. Four people were executed for various crimes. The method of carrying out the sentence has been adjusted. The generator has become more powerful and the wires have become thicker. The 2nd electrode was connected to the arm, not to the spine. These executions went more smoothly, and public opinion was accepted new method.

Execution of William Kemmler

William Kemmler, who killed his common-law wife ax, was the first “tester” of this innovation. He was executed in the city of Obernai in 1890, on August 6. For obvious reasons, he was unable to describe his feelings. Whoever invented the electric chair could not have foreseen what happened. Witnesses present during the execution of the sentence noted that the criminal was still alive 15-20 seconds after the 1st shock. I had to turn on the current for more for a long time and with great tension. The “experiment” was still painfully and long brought to the end. This execution caused many protests from the world and American public.

Murder by electric chair

Let us describe the technology of murder using the electric chair. The criminal sits on it and is tied with leather straps to the chair, securing the chest, thighs, ankles and wrists. 2 copper electrodes are attached to the body: one on the leg (the skin underneath is shaved for better conduction of electricity), and the other on the shaved top of the head. The electrodes are usually lubricated with a special gel to reduce skin burning and improve current conduction. An opaque mask is placed on the face.

The executioner presses the switch button on the control panel, thereby delivering the 1st charge, the voltage of which is from 1700 to 2400 volts, and the duration is approximately 30-60 seconds. The timer is set in advance and the current is automatically turned off. After two charges, the doctor examines the body of the criminal, because he may still not be killed. Death occurs as a result of respiratory paralysis and cardiac arrest.

Improvement

However, modern executors have concluded that instant cardiac arrest (i.e. clinical death) does not cause current to pass through the brain. It only prolongs the torment. Criminals are now making incisions and electrodes are being inserted into right thigh And left shoulder in order for the charge to pass through the heart and aorta.

The electric chair is a cruel punishment

Does it really matter who invented the electric chair: a carpenter or an electrician? More importantly, this method of punishment is inhumane. Although all methods of execution are cruel to one degree or another, it is the electric chair that often produces tragic malfunctions that cause additional suffering for the condemned, especially in cases where the equipment used is in need of repair or is old. This led to the fact that this type The death penalty was recognized under the influence of Leo Jones, a famous American human rights activist, as an inapplicable, cruel punishment that is contrary to the US Constitution.

Now you know who invented the electric chair. Dentist Albert Southwick, apparently, had no idea what fate awaited the idea that came into his head. Today this method of execution has become one of the symbols of the United States. But the electric chair was invented by a dentist who just wanted to alleviate people's suffering.

The United States, a country of democratic freedoms and the world's main bastion of human rights, has constantly sought to make not only life, but also death easier for its citizens. So, 115 years ago, a new type of killing of criminals appeared in this state - the electric chair.

"Humane" type of execution

Whatever the statistics may say, the United States has always had a large percentage of especially dangerous criminals. Perhaps this is due to the contingent that historically flooded new unexplored lands - adventurers, robbers and treasure hunters. Such people were rarely stopped by moral principles, and the murder of their neighbor did not frighten them. Perhaps it was knowledge of their history that made US senators so zealously advocate the death penalty. Of course, there was a period in the history of the United States when a moratorium was imposed on the execution of criminals, but it did not last long - from 1972 to 1976. Today, execution in this country is legal in 33 states, 7 of which still use the electric chair.

Before its invention, hanging was used in the United States. Prisoners were not always “lucky”. If they broke cervical vertebrae, then death was relatively painless. Quite often, such a gift of fate did not happen, and the person died from suffocation, which was considered absolutely inhumane.

Albert Southwick and his "humanism"

Many ordinary people believe that this type of execution was invented by a madman; in fact, this is not the case. The opinions of historians on this issue are ambiguous. Who invented the electric chair? Edison, Brown or Southwick?

The idea of ​​electrocution came from dentist Albert Southwick. One day he saw a drunkard step on exposed wires and die instantly. It seemed to Mr. Southwick that the man's death was instantaneous and painless. He told the head of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Colonel Rockwell, about his idea. The dentist suggested electrocuting sick animals rather than drowning them. Rockwell liked the idea, and the following month Southwick began experimenting on animals.

He published his observations in scientific journal. After a certain number of experiments, he turned to his friend, Senator David McMillan, with a proposal to use current as an instrument of capital punishment. MacMillan was a supporter of this procedure, and having heard that the current was less painful, he unconditionally agreed to transfer the papers to the Senate in order to approve the procedure. In 1886, the law “On the Study of the Most Humane Type of Death Penalty” was passed. On June 5, 1888, they signed a document “On the introduction of a new humane type of execution in the State of New York.”

Which current is more efficient?

Humanists immediately faced the question of how to develop the ideal electric chair. The law was passed, but the apparatus was not ready. In addition, the researchers did not know what type of current to use: direct or alternating.

Direct current was the brainchild of Thomas Edison, alternating current - Nikola Tesla. The battle of the titans began between scientists, or rather, between Edison and Westinghouse, the investor who bought the patents for Tesla's invention. Addison did not want his invention to become a symbol of the death penalty, so he made every effort to discredit Tesla’s methodology and convince the commission that studied death from electricity that alternating current kills more painlessly and quickly than direct current.

Development of an execution device

The issue was resolved, alternating current defeated lethal injection. Discussions began about how the procedure should proceed. After much debate, engineer Harold Brown proposed placing the prisoner in a chair and attaching electrodes to his body. It is to him that the electric chair owes its appearance. On January 1, 1889, the law on execution using such a device came into force. By the above date, the first electric chair was already ready.

Operating principle

Execution by electric chair was supposed to reduce the torment of the criminal and reduce the pain. The developers of the device planed a massive wooden chair and attached electrodes to it. One of them, at the end with a wet washcloth, was attached to the convict’s head, the other was planned to be brought to the spine. The electrodes were moistened in advance saline solution. The voltage of the electric chair was 2000 volts. The legs and arms of the criminal had to be rigidly secured with belts. The current was transmitted by a generator.

Later this technique was improved. Now the wires are connected to the ankles and to the head. The voltage is 2700 volts.

First execution

The first execution on the Westinghouse apparatus, and this is what this device was called for some time, took place as planned - August 6, 1890. The first person to be intentionally electrocuted was a merchant from Buffalo, William Kemmler. In a fit of jealousy and drunken stupor, he hacked his wife to death with an ax. The candidate was excellent, and they decided to test the electric chair. The prison guard was noticeably nervous and could not cope with the trembling in his hands, this made it impossible to properly fasten the belts. Kemmler was even indignant and asked the warden to calm down. Edwin Davis pulled the switch. If we talk about who invented the electric chair, in terms of who designed it, it was Mr. Davis. He immediately acquired the nickname “state electrician.”

Tension ran through the wires, all those gathered began to exclaim enthusiastically that they had entered the era of humanity. But to the surprise of the witnesses, the criminal did not die. Then the current was given again, but the generators needed time to charge. Throughout these few minutes, Kemmler moaned and gasped. The current was given again, the criminal’s head began to smoke, and he finally breathed his last. Someone present noted that it would have been faster with an axe.

Opponents of the electric chair

After the first electrocution of a person, it became clear that the method was not only unfinished, it was brutal and cruel. The first opponent of electrocution was John Westinghouse, but it is unlikely that he thought about the humanity of the issue. The entrepreneur did not want alternating current to be used. Supporters of this type of execution immediately rushed to refine their device, and opponents began to sound the alarm. Did the developers of this murder weapon know that their device would give rise to human rights organizations and human rights activists? It was those executed in the electric chair that became the reason for the formation of a movement against killing in this way. In the 20th century, the abolitionist movement began in the United States, and the search for a humane instrument of the death penalty continues to this day.

Today, electrocution is used only in the state of Virginia; seven other states allow this type of execution. Lethal injection eventually replaced this “humane” device.

And strangely enough, such a method was invented very soon, although it’s simply hard 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 the electric chair, they killed “two birds with one stone”: the first, the “poor fellow,” the prisoner, and the second, scientific knowledge. And really, who would allow them to mock people and shock them at various voltages to see their reaction? human body to different voltages, and in the end, find out at what current strength it will accumulate.
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 complete cardiac arrest.
The electric chair was first used in the United States on August 6, 1890, at Auburn Prison, New York (eleven years later, Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of President McKinley, was executed in the same prison in the electric chair). Throughout the 20th century, it was used in 25 states, but in recent decades the electric chair has been actively replaced by other forms of execution (for example, lethal injection) and is now used quite rarely. It was also used for some time in the Philippines.
Currently used in six states - Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia at the choice of the convicted person along with lethal injection, and in Kentucky and Tennessee only those who committed a crime before a certain date have the right to choose the use of 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 Supreme Court Nebraska ruled that it constituted "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by the Constitution. In Illinois and Oklahoma, it can be used only in strictly specified cases, for example, if all other methods of execution are found unconstitutional at the time of execution.

During 2004, this method of execution was used only once, in 2005 it was not used even once, and in 2006 - once.

Currently, the last time the electric chair was used was on March 18, 2010, when Paul Powell, a racist murderer who killed a girl because she was dating a black man, was executed in Virginia, and also raped and tried to kill her sister.
As for the execution itself, the convict had to be carefully prepared, having his head shaved and back shin legs. This allows the skin to have better contact with the electrodes that are passed through the body. The prisoner's arms, torso and legs were tied with belts 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 equivalent to 2000 volts, which stops the heart and leads to death.
In one state in the United States, the protocol stated that 2450 volts were passed through the body of the convicted person 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 tension, 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 for life, as a result of which, after turning off the voltage for the 3rd time, he even melted eyeballs and of course he was dead.
Blindfolding is also part of the execution. As a result of execution, people may convulse and twitch uncontrollably, sometimes causing involuntary bowel movements. Prisoners are often asked to "swaddle" them.
Even though death is supposedly instantaneous, some prisoners scream piercingly during execution. There have been cases where 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 straps.

Interesting facts:
- In 1991, two doctors from Poland recommended also tying up the hips of the defendants, since there was a case when an arrested person broke both legs when, after enormous power passing current, frantically hitting them against the chair.
- In 1946, the electric chair broke down and the convict was able to “successfully” be returned to the chair and executed only a year later.

The electric chair is no longer considered the most humane method of execution.

The unsuccessful attempt to execute the American Romel Broome, sentenced to death, in September 2009 caused quite a stir. big wave protests by opponents of the death penalty. It's no joke - they failed to give him a lethal injection 18 times in a row. However, this is far from an isolated case: from time to time, technology for executing death sentences fails, and as a result, some convicts die in terrible agony. Pravo.Ru talks about the most resonant cases from American practice.

Romelle Broome: failed execution attempt

Romel Broome, convicted in 1984 of the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl (documents in the case are available), waited almost 25 years to carry out his death sentence. He spent all this time in prison in Lucasville, Ohio. Time X for him came at 14.00 on September 15, 2009 - on this day the doctors were supposed to administer a lethal injection to the criminal.

Forensic doctors attempted to inject Broome at exactly the appointed time. However, they failed: the needle hit a muscle instead of a vein. The next few attempts also did not bring results: the veins on the convict’s arms seemed to have disappeared. The syringe needle broke, and Broom’s hands literally began to swell before his eyes. The 53-year-old criminal screamed in pain.

The nurses who came to the rescue tried to remove the tumors using wet compresses, while the doctors continued to try to give an injection. The execution lasted more than two hours. Broom began to writhe in pain. His swollen hands were punctured, but death still did not occur. The prison authorities were forced to stop the execution and appeal to the state governor. He ordered a deferment.

Cases like this have repeatedly sparked public debate about the admissibility of the death penalty and the technique of its execution. However, not all of the suicide bombers whose cases fueled the debate were as “lucky” as Broome. The vast majority of them died, if not on the first, then on the second attempt.

Willie Francis: You can execute twice

The last person to appear before the executioners twice before Broome was 17-year-old African American Willie Francis. A Louisiana court sentenced him to the electric chair for murdering his own employer. Human rights activists began to protest even at the stage of consideration of the case: they were embarrassed that the court dealing with this crime consisted entirely of white Americans. However, the protests had no effect: Francis was sentenced to death.

When the convict was put in the electric chair and the current was applied, death did not occur. “Take off the hood, let me breathe! I’m alive!” Francis shouted. The execution was stopped. Despite the fact that human rights activists tried to use the incident to overturn the verdict (some even referred to “the providence that does not allow the innocent to die”), a year later Francis again sat in the electric chair: the Supreme Court decided that repeat procedure does not contradict the constitution. The second time everything went without a hitch.

The electric chair did not always live up to hopes of a humane execution

In 1889, New York State passed a law requiring that criminals be executed only in the electric chair. Under public pressure, the authorities admitted that death by electric discharge was much more humane than the previously used gallows. But the very first execution using the new technology brought the convict even greater torment than death in a noose: William Kemmler, who was executed on August 6, 1890, convulsed for several minutes. Death did not occur immediately because the guards did not calculate the voltage. As a result, more than twenty witnesses were forced to watch as Kemmler was literally fried alive. Journalists who were present at the execution wrote that the new “death machine” should be improved, otherwise unpleasant incidents in the future are inevitable.

But even modern technologies Electrocutions are no guarantee of failure. In April 1983, during the execution of John Evans in Alabama, a problem occurred with the electrodes. The convict died in the electric chair only on the third attempt, when the entire room where the execution took place became saturated with the smell of burning flesh. A few years later, authorities in the city of Atmore in the same Alabama needed to give electric shocks twice to kill Horace Franklin Dunkins. The “horrible execution” lasted a full 19 minutes, wrote The New York Times.

Allen Lee Davis: "the man who was tortured to death by the citizens of Florida"

The real scandal was caused by the execution of Allen Lee Davis in 1999 in Florida. The perpetrator weighed 130 kilograms, and his lawyer warned the authorities that death by electric chair for a person of that weight could turn into torture. And so it happened: in photographs of Davis's execution, staff of the US Supreme Court saw "a man whom the citizens of Florida had tortured to death." According to witness testimony, during the execution, Davis screamed loudly in pain, and from his chest blood gushed out. The photo clearly shows that the criminal’s face turned blue and his body was very swollen.

From the electric chair to lethal injections

Today in the United States the only place where people are executed by electric chair is Nebraska. Other American states have been killing criminals with lethal injections since the late 1980s. It is generally accepted that this is a more humane way. However, the risk that the last minutes of the executed person’s life will be the most painful for him also exists when using injections. The painkiller that is injected into the condemned person at the same time as the lethal injection lasts no more than 15 minutes, and after the correct dose of the lethal drug is administered, at least 9 minutes pass until death. However, the real time limits of these “no more” and “at least” depend on the individual characteristics of the organism, and it is impossible to exclude the possibility of death after the effect of painkillers stops.

But so far the United States, unlike European countries, is not going to remove the death penalty from the arsenal of punishments. As for the second attempt to execute Romel Broome, it is not yet clear whether there will be one. On the one hand, there are voices against, however, on the other, in 1946, in the case of Willy Francis, American justice already answered the question of whether it is possible to execute twice.

Electric chair

Electrocution is not as severe as the sword and the guillotine, but it does create a sense of painful uncertainty about when death will occur. Photo "Sigma".

The expansion of the industrial use of electricity in the 19th century should naturally have led to the idea that the power of electricity provided new, “progressive” possibilities for 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 executions.

The "electric chair" - one of the most controversial instruments of killing, causing doubts even among supporters of the death penalty - emerged as the result of an economic and industrial war between two competing companies defending superiority different types current: alternating and direct.

The St. Quentin prison building that houses the electric chair. American Department of Corrections Archives. Col. Monestier.

It all began in 1882 in New York, when the inventor of the light bulb and phonograph, Thomas Edison, opened his first power plant on Pearl Street, which was to illuminate commercial and financial center cities.

Four years later, in March 1886, engineer George Westinghouse, inventor of the air brake, acquired several patents and founded his own electric company. It will light up the entire city of Great Barrington.

This is where the confrontation between two technological concepts began... Thomas Edison produces and supplies direct current, and George Westinghouse produces alternating current, which leads to irreconcilable rivalry between the two largest scientists of our era.

Soon, the use of alternating current by George Westinghouse was recognized as more efficient and - most importantly - more cost-effective compared to direct current by Thomas Edison. 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, driven by shareholders, decides to act and launches a large campaign in the press to discredit alternating current, presenting it as extremely dangerous. Edison's calculation is simple: by instilling in readers that alternating current is associated with a mortal risk, push them to use direct current for household needs.

Popular outrage

At Edison's instigation, 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 above safety consumers. George Westinghouse responds to him through the newspaper, he refutes the accusations, emphasizing that Harold Brown does not have the technical qualifications to make such statements. Defending his rightness, Harold Brown openly collaborates with Thomas Edison and uses his laboratories for a series of tests. He even tours the country with a show in which dogs, cats, monkeys and even horses are electrocuted in front of local authorities, journalists and businessmen. Seeking to prove that Thomas Edison's direct current is better suited for domestic and industrial applications, he demonstrates a number: Animals that survive 1,000 volts of direct current while receiving less than 300 volts of alternating current die.

An autopsy showed that the brain of the executed man resembled a “burnt cupcake.” Engraving. Private number

Harold Brown ended his trip in Columbia with a national press conference, where he invited not only journalists from all over the country, but also a huge number of professional electricians: in front of a gathered 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 livestock in the slaughterhouse.” Finally, he made a dubious joke, adding: “Or for the execution of those sentenced to death.”

Chronicle of electrocution

Electric shock theoretically occurs as a continuous automatic cycle for two minutes. When the executioner applies a current of 1900–2500 volts - depending on the model of chair used - it hits the copper wires of the contact plate of the helmet, causing the condemned person to instantly lose consciousness and no longer feel pain.

The two-minute cycle is divided into 8 consecutive series of 5 and 25 seconds.

- Current strength ranges from 5 to 15 amperes. When the device is turned on, the prisoner usually jerks forward sharply, and if he were not securely strapped to the chair, he would be thrown several meters.

- According to numerous stories from 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, body temperature rises above 100 degrees, the skin acquires a purple tint. Fibrillation and paralysis of the respiratory tract occurs.

- During the seventh and eighth cycles, the circulatory system of the brain “burns out”, and often the eyes pop out of their sockets. The crown of the head becomes black with a bright pink border.

For execution, the condemned man is given a custom-made suit. The underwear provided is thick cotton knit panties with elastic bands at the waist and hips and an absorbent pad.

Persons present at the execution:

- the prison director, who gives the order to “start the current”;

- the officer responsible for execution, who, together with two or three guards, prepares the convict and seats him on a chair;

- an electrician who connects cables and electrodes and monitors the technical side of the execution;

- a doctor who pronounces the death of a convicted person;

- 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 convicted person;

- persons indicated by the convicted person himself.

Witnesses to the execution are given brochures detailing the killing procedure.

Official witnesses and journalists are required to remain silent throughout the entire procedure. They are in a glassed room. Thanks to the acoustic system, guests can hear everything that happens around the electric chair.

A direct telephone line is established between the state governor's office and the room where the "chair" is located in case a last-minute postponement is decided.

Among the most famous people executed by electric chair: Sacco and Vanzetti (1927); Bruno Hauptmann (1935), who 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 number

Historical background

In November 1990, 2,151 convicts in the United States were awaiting execution, 600 of them by electric chair.

Executed in the electric chair large number minors. The teenager's last execution took place on October 10, 1984 in South Carolina.

Of the 28 minors who were in the “death corridor” in 1989, 11 were sentenced to the electric chair.

The record for the number of convicts awaiting execution by electrocution belongs to Florida: 315 people as of July 1992, 35% of them black. Next come Pennsylvania with 113 convictions, Georgia with 105, Tennessee with 69 and Virginia with 38.

The two electric chairs most commonly used by convicts over the past sixty years are located in Radeswilk (Georgia, 300 executions) and Raeford (Florida, 196 executions).

Many of the electric chairs used in the United States were equipped by Westinghouse, others by local electricians, and one by the prisoners themselves.

The Miami Herald published government-verified data in 1988 that Florida had spent $57 million on electrocutions since 1976. This figure includes the costs of living on death row in prison and the costs of appeal procedures. The total cost to the state 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 Tennessee convicts puts the figure at $3 million to $5 million per prisoner. New York State published a study in 1982 that found that the average criminal trial with appeal costs about $1.8 million, or twice as much as a lifetime sentence.

The electric chair itself cost thirty thousand dollars in 1966.

The hidden meaning of Harold Brown’s “performances” did not escape a group of New York state legislators, where a special commission created by the governor was working on the invention of a more humane method of execution than hanging. IN lately Several very brutal executions took place, which caused outrage among the broad masses. In particular, the unsuccessful hanging of one convict: his spine remained intact, and the man swung on a rope for twenty minutes, being in a clear consciousness, and died, choking on saliva. In addition, the press often reported accidents where electric shock resulted in imminent 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 leaders the idea that electric shock could be the desired method of execution.

From 1883 to 1888, approximately 250 fatal accidents due to electric shock were recorded.

First electric chair

An ardent abolitionist, Thomas Edison hoped to destroy his competitor by testifying to the commission that death from electric shock occurs quickly and painlessly. Provided, of course, that Westinghouse alternating current is used.

Perhaps electricity will finally make the death penalty perfect technically and flawless from the point of view of humanity. Edison's DC Exploitation Company is about to strike the final blow. She imports from Thailand half a dozen orangutans, large apes as tall as humans, which are killed with alternating current as a warning to lawmakers. This sinister ceremony is said to have prompted them to become more acquainted with " wonderful world electricity." Doctors surveyed were favorable, arguing that electric shock would lead to instant death due to cardiac arrest and respiratory paralysis. The US Supreme Court deliberates and concludes that this type of execution does not violate the Eight Amendments of the Constitution, which prohibits “cruel and inhumane punishment.”

On June 4, 1889, New York State legalized electrocution, assigning the State Medical Examiner to handle the technical details. Soon, naturally, Harold Brown is called. He resumes a series of animal tests in Edison's laboratories and concludes that 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 increased again to the 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 alternating current would soon become known as the “execution current,” the “current of certain death.”

George Westinghouse files a lawsuit over the scientific validity of Harold Brown's tests, emphasizing that this Edison employee had one goal: to scare the public by convincing them that alternating current is dangerous in the home.

Despite the lack of consensus, a resolution signed by the head of corrections, Harold Brown, is allowed to install his electric chair at Auburn State Prison. He is determined to do everything to ensure that the chair is associated with the name of his competitor, and makes an attempt to buy three powerful generators from Westinghouse. As you might guess, they refuse him there. Thomas Edison enters into action again and negotiates with Thomson Houston Electric to purchase the aforementioned generators for him through a Boston used electrical apparatus dealer.

Organs for sale

In the People's Republic of China, authorities have found a way to profit from crime: prisoners sentenced to death serve as an “organ bank” for transplants.

In the early eighties, decision-makers in China decided that the organs of executed prisoners could be used as a source of foreign exchange earnings. Thus, the Chinese, through the intermediary of doctors working in Hong Kong who supply them with Western clients, have become famous in the field of kidney transplantation.

One Chinese official, published in Puen magazine in June 1991, put the figure at 1,000 transplants per year since 1990. And this is just data on the kidneys. The number of transplants of other organs is not known, but we are certainly talking about very significant numbers.

Considering that about a thousand official executions take place in China each year (in reality, many more), it is understandable why Chinese officials note with satisfaction "that China is the only country in the world that has a surplus of organs."

There was one step left before ordered execution, which the Chinese authorities may have already taken, given a booklet distributed in Hong Kong praising the value for money of Nanjing's communist hospitals: "Round trip, hospitalization, transplant and kidney cost - 76,000 francs." “The kidney was taken 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 must voluntarily donate their organs to the state.

The first criminal selected for testing " modern method" execution - or for "inducing an electric current into the body", according to the official wording - was called Francis Kemmeler. He was sentenced to death for hacking a man to death with an axe. George Westinghouse hires him lawyers who file appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing that electrocution is unconstitutional, cruel and inhumane.

A court hearing is scheduled, where Harold Brown and Thomas Edison, who are 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 at Auburn Prison. It was 6:30 am. He was shaved and stripped down to his underpants. “Take your time and do everything well,” he tells the prison director. A few minutes later, he asks that the electrode attached to the helmet be tightened.

About forty people were present at his execution, half of those invited were doctors and physicists.

The astonished but curious public had about twenty minutes to examine the execution instrument before the condemned man was brought in.

Execution of Francis Kemmeler - the first person executed in the electric chair. 1890 The execution lasted 17 minutes and caused a wave of protests around the world. Engraving. Private count

The room is behind glass, from where witnesses and journalists watch the execution. Louisiana Department of Corrections Archives. Col. Monestier.

Miscarriages of justice

Many famous mathematicians of the 19th century, including Laplace, Cournot and Poisson, tried to determine the proportion of erroneous and justified verdicts based on probability theory. Thus, Poisson carefully analyzed French criminal procedure. According to the famous scientist, the mathematical probability of a miscarriage of justice in France is 1 case in 257 capital 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. These data only take into account those cases where the true killer was found and the judicial authorities admitted their mistake.

The American Civil Liberties Association says there are 25 cases.

It was a wide and heavy wooden chair, behind which was a control panel with three huge levers.

Two thick four-meter electrical wires stretched from the panel, to which pre-wetted electrodes were connected.

The convict was tied to a chair and a metal helmet was placed on his head. An electrode was attached to the helmet. The second electrode - long and flat - was pressed to the back with a belt. Having checked everything the last time, they gave the first shock of 300 volts, which lasted 17 seconds. After receiving the blow, Kemmeler began to convulse, almost knocking over his chair. Officials noted that henceforth the chair should be secured to the floor.

Kemmeler was still alive. Then they gave me a second category. The body of the condemned man turned red and began to char, emitting a strong odor and yellowish smoke that clouded the witness stand. Three minutes later the current was turned off.

Oh horror! It seemed the man was still alive. The current was turned on again, resulting in “a tiny blue light darting up and down his back.”

Finally the convict died. An autopsy showed that the executed man’s brain looked like a “burnt cupcake,” the blood in his head had coagulated and turned black, and his back was completely charred. Both doctors officially stated that the convict was not suffering.

Parts of American society applauded the new invention as "a step forward towards a higher civilization" and "the triumph of science and humanism over barbarity and bestiality." Others were outraged after reading horrific stories in the press. When one serious morning newspaper headlined its article “Kemmeler Westenhaused,” Thomas Edison thought that his victory was just around the corner.

The medical examiner's office and state legislators found themselves in a very difficult position after the botched execution of Kemmeler. Harold Brown and Thomas Edison were required to improve the technical aspects 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 manner were terrible. Some convicts who could not be executed outright died only when the location of the electrodes was changed, returning to the head-foot 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 18 years of age could not be sentenced to death.

Between 1974 and 1991, 92 juvenile offenders, including 4 girls, were sentenced to death in the United States.

In 1989, the US Supreme Court ruled that it was constitutional to execute 16-year-old criminals.

Of the 37 American states whose legislation provides for the death penalty, in 26 it is applicable to criminals under 18 years of age: 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 that apply the death penalty to minors, 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 years:

- Montana: 12 years.

- Mississippi: 13 years old.

- Alabama, Missouri, Utah: 14 years.

- Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia: 15 years.

- Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada: 16 years.

- North Carolina, Georgia, New Hampshire, Texas: 17 years.

According to a study by Professor Victor Streib of Cleveland University, between 1600 and 1991, 286 juvenile offenders, including 9 girls, were legally executed in the United States for crimes committed in underage. Twelve of them were under 14 years old at the time of the crime, three were 12, and one was 10 years old. Most of the minors were executed in the 20th century - 190 of the 286 executions took place after 1905.

The youngest person executed in the 20th century was Fortune Fergusson, who was hanged in 1927 at the age of 16 for a rape he committed at age 13.

Two sixteen-year-old suicide bombers. USA. 1959 Photo "Keystone".

First woman executed by electrocution

The first woman to be electrocuted was named Liz Place. She was killed in 1899 in New York State for the murder of her daughter-in-law and husband. The condemned woman was warned about the method of execution several 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 demonstrated the highest degree of mental courage. She sat down in the electric chair without hesitation and allowed herself to be tied up without uttering 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 her lips moving between the first and second discharges: she was praying. The sight turned out to be so terrifying that the confessor could not bear it and turned away. After the second shock, the blackened, half-charred body was finally removed from the chair. The electrodes stuck to the body, and after the second discharge, the head began to “fry”. The journalist concluded: “The last word in improving the execution process has not yet been said, since death does not occur instantly, as we would like.”

Indeed, like all new innovations, electrocution presented some problems that required “improvement.”

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 the chair, which by that time had been awarded many nicknames that are still used in the criminal world.

The abolitionists, whose indignation 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 unfortunates had died absolutely painlessly. Since the first execution by electric shock, which took place in 1890, each subsequent execution has become the reason for long and serious debate among experts.

What is the "ideal voltage" in reality? 1350 volts at the beginning of the execution seems rather weak. So how much: 1750? 1900? 2000? 2500? What are the limits of current fluctuation: 7.5-10 amperes, 15 or 20? Is it necessary to take into account the weight of the convicted person? Heart size? State of health?

Today, medicine admits that some individuals tolerate electric shock better. During the period between the world wars, there was an opinion that these were people small in stature, anemic and almost consumptive. It was even believed that factors such as temperature should not be neglected environment and the last meal menu.

The 1933 execution of Zangara, the murderer of the mayor of Chicago. Col. 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 voltage that could kill at once without causing visible bodily harm. Despite the technical problems, Americans at the beginning of the 20th century were generally quite satisfied with the incomparable scientific achievement that was electric shock. They extolled its virtues so much that many countries sent competent observers to the United States. Thus, in 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II sent the famous criminologist Boris Fresdenthal 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 to the new method of execution. He wrote: “Electrocution is not as cruel as the sword and guillotine which we use, but one serious reproach can be brought against this method - uncertainty, painful uncertainty, as to the exact moment of death. Has it really happened or is it just an appearance? Exactly how much time passes between the application of the current and the loss of consciousness? In his conclusion he categorically rejects the introduction in Germany this method, citing the technical imperfection of the execution.

In 1950, the British Royal Commission, which conducted a study of methods of capital punishment, came to a similar conclusion. Let us remember that in many American states from this method refused, of the twenty-three states that used it in 1967, by the end of the 20th century only fourteen remained, in others they preferred to execute by hanging, gas chamber or execution, and since 1977 - by lethal injection.

Only the Philippines and Taiwan used the electric chair for a while, but then returned to execution.

Over the 20th century, a lot of terrible evidence of executions by electric chair has accumulated. Kurt Rossa, citing the testimony of Congressman and Senator Emmanuel Teller, describes one botched execution that took place in 1926. A woman named Judeau was executed in the electric chair. “The switch was turned on, the current started flowing. The woman arched 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 condemned woman, but she did not lose consciousness and remained alive. Then they gave 2000 volts. An eternity passed, my eyes were still sparkling, the prosecutor signaled 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 clemency. He objected that there was no document allowing him to make such a decision. An hour later, the condemned woman was returned to the execution room, where this time she died from the first discharge.

Death performances

Since the early 1980s, the number of countries conducting public executions, often broadcast on radio and television, has increased.

Countries with a penchant for 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 attracted 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, the executioner of Columbus State Prison (Ohio), testified: “The first shock of 1150 volts was not fatal, the heart beat evenly. And the second category did not produce results. Then the voltage was increased threefold. 3,000 volts. A bright flame engulfed the convulsing body, 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 would 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: “ Blood vessels they inflated so much that they were torn apart... Steam enveloped the head and bare knees, the latter acquired a black-blue color. The lips turned black and foam came out of the mouth.”

The performers were most afraid of the possibility of breakdown. In the first quarter of the 20th century, the machine was tested on a large piece of meat. Later, the law established the mandatory presence of a qualified electrician during the entire execution. In the event of a power failure, he was responsible for immediately connecting the electric chair to the diesel generator installed in almost all “death rooms.”

1900 volts and 7.5 amps: the perfect combination for killing. Private count

American court chronicles mention an accident that occurred in 1938 in Huntsville prison (Texas), when the convict was already seated in a chair. It was not possible to turn on the chair for several hours, and all this time the convict kept repeating: “Pardon! Pardon! This God's will! As a result, the execution was postponed for three days, despite thousands of demonstrators rallying outside the prison building in defense of the convicted man. Do not think that centuries of practice have 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 this time the heart of Dunkens, tied to a chair, was beating furiously. His death was announced nineteen minutes after the first shock.

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 the electric discharges for a long time: “The first lasted two minutes, but did not kill him; during the next two, he continued to fight and resist. After which the doctors examined him and declared that he was still alive.

Then he was given an additional shock of the same duration as the first. But witnesses to the execution saw that he was still breathing.” The newspaper clarifies: “In six minutes - the time allotted for cooling the body so that doctors could 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 pass on 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 over fourteen minutes. Thirty witnesses saw “an arc of fire shoot out from under his mask. From under the electrode to right leg there was smoke. The belt securing the leg caught fire and broke.” After the second discharge, the convict's lawyers contacted Governor George Wallace to stop the procedure, which had become intolerable. brutal torture. The governor rejected the request, and John Evans received a third, this time fatal, shock.

In 1985, Indiana required five shocks of 2,250 volts each during the execution of William Vandevere. The execution lasted seventeen minutes. Even after the third discharge, the doctor stated 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 shock, and even if the heart continues to beat and the lungs continue to work, during subsequent shocks the condemned no longer feel anything.

This statement is completely refuted by the execution of Judeau, 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 sentenced to the electric chair: he was barely seventeen when he was executed.

A witness to the execution says: “I saw how the performer turned on the current. The condemned man's lips swelled, his body began to arch. I heard the executioner yelling at the executioner to turn up the tension because Willie Francis wasn't dead. But the executioner replied that he had already given the maximum current.” Willie Francis shouted, “Stop it! Let me breathe!

The execution was stopped. A survivor said: “I felt a burning sensation on my head and leg. Multi-colored specks flashed.” After discussion, the Supreme Court ruled that nothing prevented the execution of the miraculously saved person. Willie Francis was again placed in a chair, and this time he died at 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, amounted to a cruel and inhumane punishment.

As a result, more than a thousand death row inmates changed their preventive measure to life imprisonment. Criminals such as Charles Manson, the murderer of actress Sharon Tate, Sirhan-Sirhan, the murderer of Bob Kennedy, chuckled and left the “corridor of death.”

As a result of this decision, some states have begun to review legislation. In 1976, the Supreme Court, in Gregg v. Georgia, ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional, upholding laws revised by some states.

Since the Fuhrman decision, thirty-six states have changed their laws and now provide 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 states in the duration of the discharge and the voltage, which varies from 1750 to 2500 volts depending on the device.

The execution itself and the preparation for it take place according to clearly established regulations, which are sometimes spelled out in such detail in by-laws that it turns into a real ritual.

The ritual of death by electric chair is similar to that of other methods of execution used in the United States. When the countdown begins, the prisoner is taken out of the "death corridor" and placed in a cell called the "special death row" or "death chamber". Here the convict spends his last days under continuous round-the-clock surveillance. All personal belongings are taken from the suicide bomber. The death certificate is prepared in advance with the note “Lawful electrocution.”

A few hours before the execution, the prisoner is led into the “preparation room” in handcuffs. In this room, located next to the execution room, the condemned person is subjected to a thorough examination. They examine all openings - nose, ears, mouth, anus - checking to see if anything is hidden there, in particular metal objects that could interfere with the killing procedure.

The 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 execution. He was sure that with a discharge of 2000 volts, the needles would come out of the body, turning him into a porcupine. Nothing of the sort happened.

After the inspection, the guard gives the condemned man a crew cut, then shave a square on the top of his head to ensure a secure fit for the helmet’s electrodes.

The convict is then uncuffed and sent to a shower located in the corner of the room. He is given five to six minutes to wash himself, after which he is put on a suit provided by the correctional institution. He can choose to remain barefoot or wear socks.

Execution of Richard (Bruno) Hauptmann in 1935. Photo "Keystone".

Death by electric chair for Willie Bragg, who killed his wife. The execution took place in Mississippi on a new chair improved by Jimmy Thompson. Engraving. Private count

States using electric shock

In 1992, the electric chair was a legal method of execution in 14 states: 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, executed at age 16 in South Carolina in 1944 for murder, and Frenchman William Francis, executed at age 17 in Louisiana in 1946.

Usually, while dressing, the confessor comes, and the prison director promises the convict that he will die instantly and without pain.

While the convict is being prepared, the deputy director solemnly greets official witnesses appointed by the convict himself, as well as journalists chosen by lot. The “witness room” is located opposite the chair, behind which there 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 not communicate with the convicted person under any circumstances. Witnesses are informed that during the execution there will be a " ambulance", in case one of them becomes ill.

The direct telephone lines between the death room and the offices of the Attorney General and the Governor are being checked one last time - there is always the possibility of a last-second pardon.

As soon as the prisoner gets dressed, he is handcuffed again and does last steps, separating him from the electric chair. He enters accompanied by four guards, the prison director and a chaplain. He sees a chair.

The "electric chair" is a large oak chair with three or four legs, often painted white, standing on a thick rubber carpet and screwed to the floor.

Each electric chair in the United States is unique. In some states, they are made by firms or local artisans according to specifications provided by the State Department of Justice. In other states, they are created by prisoners themselves. Like, for example, the electric chair of the famous Rayford prison in Florida. It was made by prisoners in 1924 from oak trees cut down on the prison grounds.

Warning lights are often used to indicate that the “chair is energized.” There is a black rubber mat on the seat. 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. There is a wooden strip in front between the legs, which serves to secure the ankles.

In most cases, the convicted person is immobilized with seven belts: one on the lower back, one on the chest, one on the head, two on the wrists, two on the ankles.

The executioner, working anonymously, is located in another room.

Electrode placement

Behind the chair on the wall hangs an electrical cabinet with two cables coming out of it. Attached to the same wall is a box containing “accessories”: a helmet and contact plate, a “gaiter” and gloves for the performers.

The helmet is made of thick leather, equipped with a chin strap and a special strip of ten by twenty centimeters, which is used to cover the convicted person’s eyes. Inside there is a “contact plate” - a curved copper part ten centimeters in diameter, which has a rod in the center protruding above the helmet, to which the first electrode is attached.

S. T. Judy's press conference before his execution in Michigan City in 1981. Photo "Keystone".

The inside of the helmet is covered thin layer 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 convicted person, which led to serious burns and a terrible stench. However, even today witnesses claim that executions are 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 institution invites the convict to make a statement, after which a helmet is put on his head.

The “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 is fixed with a threaded rod protruding outward, 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, leads to the death of the convicted person.

Weren't it the Americans themselves who were the first to question the infallibility of electrocution? Probably because almost all states where it is practiced have passed laws requiring autopsies to be performed immediately after executions.

New York State stated the reason without false modesty: “To eliminate any possibility of the subject returning to life.” On August 23, 1991, in Greensville, Virginia, Derrick Peterson received a shock of 1725 volts for 10 seconds, then 240 volts for 90 seconds. When the body was removed from the chair, the doctor confirmed the presence of a pulse. The operation had to be repeated.

Electric shock theoretically occurs as a continuous automatic cycle for two minutes. When the executioner applies a current of 1900–2500 volts - depending on the model of chair used - it hits the copper wires of the contact plate of the helmet, causing the condemned person to instantly lose consciousness and no longer feel pain.

Gloomy 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 Christie's auction. The result of the auction is more than a million dollars.