Leon Frank Czolgosz assassinated the 25th President of the United States, William McKinley. "I killed the president because he was an enemy good people- good working people. I do not regret my crime,” Czolgosz said on this occasion.
While still at school, Leon became interested in anarchism and participated in strikes. In addition, from the age of 10 he worked - the family was sorely lacking money. Over time, the teenager thought about terrorist activities - in his opinion, the murder of a high-ranking official could be the beginning of the struggle for "universal equality."
McKinley Czolgosz. (wikipedia.com)
After McKinley's murder, Czolgosz was arrested. During the trial, he stated that he was doing his duty and was declared mentally healthy. In addition, the man said that he acted alone and refused to communicate with lawyers. He was executed in the electric chair on October 29, 1901. During the execution, the eyes were usually covered with plaster, the hands were fastened with straps to the armrests, the legs - to the legs of the table. The use of the electric chair caused a heated discussion among Americans - many publications appeared in the press, which noted the cruelty of this method of execution.
Ted Bundy
Also nicknamed "The Charismatic Killer", he is one of the most "popular" maniacs in US history. This young, well-educated, attractive intellectual and potentially promising lawyer did not look like a sadistic rapist at all. Bundy knew how to charm: he used this skill to find his victims, he turned to the same talent in court to win the love of jurors, the public and journalists.
Ted Bundy. (wikipedia.com)
Bundy confessed to 30 murders, but experts noted that the real number of his victims could be much higher. Often the girls disappeared in crowded places: in a bar, on the beach, in the parking lot of a supermarket. The reason was simple: the criminal did not inspire fear in them, they all left with him voluntarily.
In January 1989, Bundy was executed in the electric chair (while he hoped for a pardon to the last). On that day, several thousand people organized a celebration near the walls of the prison.
Louis Buchalter
Louis Buchalter is an American gangster whose specialization was the "protection" of business. The man's criminal career began with control over trade unions. They paid Buchalter large weekly payments.
Louis Buchalter. (wikipedia.com)
In the 1930s, the man teamed up with several criminals. The gangsters formed a group called the Murder Corporation. The organization specialized in contract killings. Buchalter was arrested and executed in 1944. He was the only mafia leader sentenced to capital punishment.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
The Rosenbergs were put on trial on charges of espionage. It was alleged that they passed nuclear secrets to the USSR and worked for Soviet intelligence. In 1951 they were sentenced to death.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. (wikipedia.com)
Several public organizations came out in support of Julius and Ethel. They were called for mercy by the Pope, Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, Francois Mauriac and Jean-Paul Sartre. The case went to the US Supreme Court. President Dwight Eisenhower confirmed the death sentence. On June 19, 1953, the Rosenbergs were executed at Sing Sing Prison.
Execution in the electric chair until recently was considered one of the most humane ways to kill criminals. However, over the years of application, it turned out that this type of execution is by no means completely painless, but, on the contrary, can cause terrible torment to the convict. What can happen to a person who gets into the electric chair?
Criminals were executed in the electric chair in late XIX century, when supporters of the "progressive" society decided that earlier existing species executions such as burning at the stake, hanging and beheading are inhumane. From their point of view, the criminal should not suffer additionally in the process of execution: after all, he is already being deprived of the most precious thing - his life.
It is believed that the first model of the electric chair was invented in 1888 by Harold Brown, who worked for the Thomas Edison Company. According to others, the inventor of the electric chair was the dentist Albert Southwick.
The essence of the execution is this. The convict is shaved head and back of the leg. Then the torso and arms are firmly tied with straps to a chair made of dielectric, with a high back and armrests. Legs are fixed with special clamps. At first, the criminals were blindfolded, then they began to put a hood on their heads, and in recent times- a special mask. One electrode is attached to the head, on which the helmet is put on, the other to the leg. The executioner turns on the switch button, which passes through the body an alternating current with a power of up to 5 amperes and a voltage of 1700 to 2400 volts. An execution usually takes about two minutes. Two discharges are given, each is switched on for one minute, the interval between them is 10 seconds. Death, which should occur from cardiac arrest, is mandatory recorded by the doctor.
For the first time this method The execution was applied on August 6, 1890 in the Auburn prison of the US state of New York to William Kemmler, convicted of the murder of his mistress Tilly Zeigler.
Up to now, more than 4,000 people have been executed in this way in the United States. Also, a similar type of execution was used in the Philippines. The communist spouses Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who worked for Soviet intelligence, also ended their lives in the electric chair.
"False" procedure
It was assumed that when passing through the body electric current the person will die immediately. But this did not always happen. Often, eyewitnesses had to observe how people put in an electric chair convulsed, bit their tongues, foam and blood came out of their mouths, their eyes popped out of their sockets, involuntary emptying of the intestines and bladder occurred. Some uttered piercing cries during the execution ... Almost always, after the discharge was applied, a light smoke began to go from the skin and hair of the convict. There have also been cases when a person sitting in an electric chair caught fire and exploded in the head. Quite often, the burnt skin "glued" to the belts and the seat. The bodies of the executed were, as a rule, so hot that it was impossible to touch them, and then the "aroma" of burnt human flesh hovered in the room for a long time.
One of the protocols describes an episode when a convict was exposed to a discharge of 2450 volts for 15 seconds, but a quarter of an hour after the procedure, he was still alive. As a result, the execution had to be repeated three more times, until the offender finally died. The last time, his eyeballs even melted.
In 1985, William Vandiver was electrocuted five times in Indiana. It took 17 minutes to kill him.
According to experts, when exposed to such a high voltage, the human body, including the brain and other internal organs, is literally fried alive. Even if death occurs quickly enough, at least a person feels the strongest muscle spasm throughout the body, as well as acute pain at the points of contact with the skin of the electrodes. This is usually followed by loss of consciousness. Here is the memoir of one of the survivors: “There was a taste of cold peanut butter in my mouth. I felt my head and left leg burning, so I tried with all my might to break free from the bonds. 17-year-old Willie Francis, who sat in the electric chair in 1947, shouted: “Turn it off! Let me breathe!"
Repeatedly, the execution became painful as a result of various failures and malfunctions. So, on May 4, 1990, when the criminal Jesse D. Tafero was executed, a synthetic gasket under the helmet ignited, and the convict received third or fourth degree burns. A similar thing happened on March 25, 1997 with Pedro Medina. In both cases, the current had to be turned on several times. In total, the execution procedure took 6-7 minutes, so it could not be called quick and painless.
The story of the murderer of the whole family, Allen Lee Davis, caused a great resonance, to whom not only his mouth (instead of a gag), but also his nose was sealed with a leather tape before execution. In the end, he suffocated.
Chair or injection?
Over time, it became clear that the "humane" execution is in fact often a painful torture, and its use was limited. True, some people believe that the point here is not at all in humanity, but in the high cost of the procedure.
Currently, electric chair execution is used only in six US states - Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Moreover, the convict is offered a choice - an electric chair or a lethal injection. The last time the above-mentioned measure was applied on January 16, 2013 in Virginia to Robert Gleason, who deliberately killed two of his cellmates in order to have his life sentence commuted to a death sentence.
In addition, there is a law in the USA: if after the third category the sentenced person survives, then he receives a pardon: they say, it means that this is the will of God ...
Types and variations death penalty. Electric chair. December 11th, 2014
Hello dear!
Let's continue our conversation about the death penalty. You can see the previous part here:
Today we will talk about such a highly specialized type of fatal executions as an electric chair. On the this moment US states only: Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Moreover, only in the latter this execution is practiced widely and practically without reservations. In the rest, either only as a last resort, or in the absence of an alternative (for example, the inability to quickly get the components of a deadly serum). Once this type of execution was also used in the Philippines, but since 1973 this practice has been discontinued.
Ideally, this type of punishment was planned as the most humane execution, but in practice, sometimes it does not always work out that way. With medical point of view, death must occur as a result of cardiac arrest and respiratory paralysis after exposure to a condemned electric current of great strength. That is, a current is supplied and the condemned does not have time to feel anything and dies calmly. But that's in theory... 
That same thing...
An electric chair is a high-backed chair with wooden armrests, usually on which special straps hang for rigid fixation. The arms are fastened on the armrests, the legs are in special clamps on the legs of the chair. After the offender is fixed on his voice, they put on a special hoop. Electrical contacts are connected to the hoop. Another pin is attached at the ankle usually to the right foot. Before execution, the convict shaves the hair on the top of his head and, if there is vegetation on his legs, also his ankle. A sponge impregnated with saline is inserted under the hoop, this is done in order to ensure minimal electrical contact resistance.
The current is supplied with an alternating voltage of 2700 V, the current strength is limited to 5 amperes, so that the body does not ignite. Actually, it's different... 
Remember the movie The Green Mile?
The chair is activated by 2 switches - one of which is connected, the other is not - so that the executioners themselves do not know who exactly brought the "old smokehouse" (slang expression) into action. Something similar we have seen before in executions. 
Dr. Albert Southwick
Formally speaking, the inventor of the electric chair is Buffalo dentist Albert Southwick, but in fact, Thomas Edison played a huge role in the promotion of this murder weapon and its advertising, which is why the electric chair is often called "edisonka" or "edisonina" (an analogy to the guillotine apparently ). The famous inventor and entrepreneur entered the fight against the Westinghouse empire, trying to prove a great danger alternating current(Westingau development) over its constant. And so he helped create a chair with alternators.
The first person to be executed in this way is 30-year-old William Kemler, accused of killing his mistresses with an axe. The execution took place on August 6, 1890 in the prison of Auburn, New York. George Westinghouse, being a clear opponent of such an inhumane punishment, tried to “blow him off”, but it didn’t work out .... 
The famous George Westinghouse
There is a lot of gossip about the humanity of this type of punishment. It may well be that the new equipment worked fine, but the old one .... A lot of unpleasant cases when a person was literally fried ...
The machine turns on once. Then a couple of minutes later the second, and the doctor records the death. This is how it should ideally be. In practice, however ... For the execution of John Louis Evans in April 1983 in the state of Alabama, it was necessary to apply a current of 1900 volts three times within 14 minutes before the death of the convict was ascertained. William Vandiver on October 16, 1985 in Indiana was executed only after the fifth discharge of current and died within 17 minutes
On July 4, 1989, also due to problems with an improperly connected electric chair, Horace Dunkens agonized for 19 minutes. 
Willie Francis
The discharge followed the discharge, but every time the doctors stated that the convict was still alive. Well, the most amazing case, perhaps, happened with 18 (!) Years old murderer Willie Francis. They tried to execute him, but at first nothing happened, and then the tension disappeared. Therefore, he was again taken to the cell and executed a second time only after 6 days. 
Apparently, accidentally injured Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
It only remains to add that the killer of President McKinley, Leon Czolgosz, was executed using the electric chair (we touched on this topic a little here.
Kruglova I.
From the second half of the 19th century in the United States, hanging began to be considered an inhumane method of the death penalty (if one can speak of execution as humane at all). The state authorities wanted to quickly change the hanging to some other method that would be less painful and not cause public outrage. Here is an example of two executions that prompted the state authorities to reconsider the old customary method of punishment.
The two criminals were tried for different crimes and hanged on June 30, 1852. Black Jonas Williams was convicted of rape and murder, white woman Ann Hoag for the murder of her husband. Was introduced new technology hanging, which involved the use of a counterweight that abruptly lifts the convict and breaks his neck. The black Williams died quickly, and the white woman, who maintained her innocence until her death, suffered for several minutes. The public considered this unfair. Especially considering the historical situation of that time.
Another example of execution: Roxalana Druce was hanged on the same new "humane" gallows on February 28, 1887. She suffered for 15 minutes. After that, the authorities were determined to make the execution more humane.
What were the difficulties of the main method of execution? The main problem was determining the fall distance needed for a quick death. The length of the rope had to be calculated according to the weight and height of the convict. If the rope is too short, then it will not be able to quickly break the neck. On a rope that is too long, the convict can suffer up to 45 minutes. Other difficulties were associated with tying a knot: this had to be done in a special way at the left ear. That is, all technical conditions must be met for a neck fracture to occur. And this is difficult to achieve for various reasons, up to the excitement of the executioner. The onset of a fracture also depends on the muscles of the convict. If he has strong neck muscles, then the process will be slow, especially since usually a person strains his neck muscles, trying to fight for life. The last moments of the struggle for life are due to the very instinct of preservation. Even knowing that it is necessary to relax the neck in order to die quickly, the convict will unconsciously strain it.
After much experimentation and research, by January 1890, the electric chair was invented.
On August 6, 1890, the first execution took place in the electric chair. The first to be executed was William Kemmler (pictured left). Kemmler was a merchant in Buffalo with an addiction to alcohol. He was very jealous, constantly suspected his beloved of treason and was afraid that she would run away from him with another. One day, after a night of drinking, Kemmler thought his girlfriend was planning to make an escape and was packing her things, even though she had only done the cleaning. But Kemmler was angry and exhausted by his doubts and suspicions. He killed his girlfriend with an ax and immediately went to the neighbors to report his crime. He said: “I killed her. I had to do it. I did it on purpose. I'll take the rope for it." But after a short trial, Kemmler was sentenced to death using a new method of killing - the electric chair.
The convict was asked if Kemmler wanted to say anything before he died. He said the following: “Well gentlemen, I wish you good luck in this world. I think I'm going to a good place and the newspapers wrote too much that didn't exist." The prison guard's hands shook as he tied the convict to a chair. Kemmler grumbled, “God, Warden, calm down. Do not rush". An electrode with a washcloth was attached to the convict's head. Another electrode was passed to the spine to open an unobstructed path for the current to flow through the body. The electrodes were wetted with saline. Sufficient voltage to quickly kill a person, as was established during the experiments, was 2000 volts. The switch to supply current to the chair was turned by Edwin Davies. He made the chair himself and carried out several tests (later he was called the "state electrician"). The current passed through the body of the convict for 17 seconds. Kemmler was shaking despite no belts; his face was filled with blood. When the current was turned off, Alfred Southwick (the Buffalo dentist who pioneered the idea of electrocution) exclaimed, “This is the culmination of decades of work and research! From this day on, we live in a civilized world!” To his dismay, Kemmler was not dead. The order was immediately given to turn the system back on, but time had already been lost. The generator needed to be energized again. All this time, Kemmler groaned and gasped. The witnesses were horrified. The current went through the convict again. This time the current was applied for a full minute. Smoke rose from Kemmler's head, the room smelled of burnt flesh, and cracklings were heard. When the power was turned off, Kemler was dead.
The first execution in the electric chair showed the imperfection of this method, which was considered the most humane at that time. Was the electric chair a step towards civilization, as it was called after the invention?
The next executions took place in the spring of 1891. Four were executed for different crimes. The method of execution has been adjusted. The generator has become more powerful, the wires are thicker. The second electrode was connected not to the spine, but to the arm. These executions went more smoothly, and new method was accepted public opinion. However, the search for a more humane method continued. Moreover, a broad abolitionist movement unfolded in the 20th century, and debates about the humanity of the death penalty continue in the United States to this day.
Sources:
- Rob Gallagher. Northeast regional studies of the executions between 1607 and 1968 http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/regional_studies_northeast.htm
- History of Execution Methods in the U. S. Research from the Death Penalty Information Center. http://www.courttv.com/archive/national/death_penalty/history_dpenalty.html
- MacLeod M. Condemned. http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/not_guilty/chair/5.html
- MacLeod M. Horrifying Mistakes. http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/not_guilty/chair/6.html
And strange as it may seem, such a method was invented very soon, although it is simply not possible to call it humane - the electric chair.
The first electric chair was invented by Harold Brown, who worked for Thomas Edison.
Moreover, with the help of an electric chair, "two birds with one stone" were killed at once: the first - the "poor fellow" - a prisoner, and the second - scientific knowledge. Indeed, who would allow them to bully people and shock them with current at various voltages in order to see the reaction of the human body to different voltage, and in the end find out at what current strength he will hoard.
So, for example, two doctors named Prevest and Batteli, from scientific university in the United States 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 its complete stop.
The electric chair was first used in the United States on August 6, 1890, at the Auburn Prison in New York State (eleven years later, Leon Czolgosz, the murderer of President McKinley, was executed in the same prison in the electric chair). During the 20th century, it was used in 25 states, but in recent decades the electric chair has been actively supplanted by other forms of execution (for example, lethal injection) and is now rarely used. For some time it was also used in the Philippines.
It is currently used in six states - in Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia at the choice of the convict along with lethal injection, and in Kentucky and Tennessee only those who committed a crime earlier than a certain date have the right to choose to use the electric chair (in Kentucky - April 1, 1998, in Tennessee - January 1, 1999). In Nebraska, the electric chair was used as the only method of execution, but on February 8, 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that it was a "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by the constitution. In Illinois and Oklahoma, it can only be used in strictly specified cases, for example, if all other methods of execution are found unconstitutional at the time of the execution of the death sentence.
During 2004 this method of execution was used only once, in 2005 it was never used, in 2006 - once.
To date, the last time the electric chair was used was on March 18, 2010, when Paul Powell, a racist killer who killed a girl for dating a black man, was executed in Virginia, in addition, he raped and tried to kill her sister.
As for the execution itself, the convict had to be carefully prepared, having shaved his head and the back of the leg. This allows the skin to better contact the electrodes that are passed through the body. The prisoner's arms, torso and legs were tied with straps to a chair. One electrode was attached to the head, the other to the leg. At least two electrical currents pass through the body within a few minutes. Initial electrical voltage equates to 2000 volts, which stops the heart and leads to death.
In one of the states in the USA, the protocol stated that 2450 volts were passed through the body of the convict for 15 seconds. After 15 minutes, the body was examined, but the person was still alive, as a result of which the procedure had to be repeated 3 more times. With such a voltage, the human body is literally fried at a temperature of 100 C, which leads to severe damage to all internal organs. Despite this, the convict fought with all his might for life, as a result of which, after the power was turned off for the 3rd time, his eyeballs even melted and, of course, he was dead.
Blindfolding is also part of the execution. As a result of the execution, people can convulse and twitch uncontrollably, sometimes there is an involuntary emptying of the body. Prisoners are often asked to "swaddle" them.
Despite the fact that death is supposedly instantaneous, some prisoners scream during the execution. There were cases when people's heads caught fire and then exploded.
Human skin burns and smolders. And before the next use of the electric chair, someone has a "hard time", tearing off pieces of burnt skin from the seat and belts.
Interesting Facts:
- In 1991, two doctors from Poland also recommended that the hips of the defendants be tied, as there was a case when an arrested person broke both legs, when, after a huge force of the transmitted current, he violently beat them on a chair.
- In 1946, the electric chair broke down and the convict was “successfully” returned to the chair and executed only a year later.