Hangings

Date Jurisdiction Name Problem
1363 England England and Wales Walter Wynkeburne[1] Revived while being transported for burial.
1728  Scotland Margaret Dickson[1] Revived while being transported for burial.
1803  New South Wales Joseph Samuel[1] Rope broke; attempted three times, but each time the rope broke. Pardoned after third attempt.
December 1818  Scotland Robert Johnston[1] Drop was too short and rope was too long; spectators rioted and cut Johnston down. Following riot, Johnston was successfully hanged.
1829 England England and Wales David Evans[1] Rope broke; hanged a second time.
1838  South Australia Michael Magee[1] Noose knot bungled and drop insufficiently sudden; executioner had to hold and pull body down for 13 minutes to ensure strangulation.
10 February 1854  Guernsey John Tapner[2] Drop distance was insufficient and Tapner got his arms free and tried to save himself; died of strangulation.
31 March 1856 England England and Wales William Bousfield[1] Three times Bousfield climbed up rope through drop hole to support himself on scaffold; executioner and police had to pull and hold his body down until he died of strangulation.
02-23 England England and Wales John "Babbacombe" Lee[1][3] Trap door on scaffold drop jammed on three consecutive attempts; sentence commuted to penal servitude for life.
21 November 1885  Maine Daniel Wilkinson[1][4] Drop distance was insufficient; died of stangulation.
20 August 1891 England England and Wales John Conway[1] Drop distance was too long; head partially separated from body.
13 February 1906  Minnesota William Williams[1][5] Rope was too long. After Williams fell through the trap door on the gallows, he hit the floor. Three police officers were required to hold Williams up for over 14 minutes as he died of strangulation.
13 September 1946  Poland Amon Göth[6] Proper rope length was miscalculated twice; three drops were required.
10 December 1962  Canada Arthur Lucas Drop distance was insufficient due to Lucas's weight loss while in prison; head was partially separated from body.[citation needed]


Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Stephen Eliot Smith, "'Going Through All These Things Twice": A Brief History of Capital Punishment", Otago Law Review 12:777 (2012).
  2. ^ Chris Morvan, "Setting the Scene for Murder", 2005-11-26, thisisguernsey.com.
  3. ^ "The Man They Could Not Hang", bbc.co.uk.
  4. ^ Edward Schriver, "Reluctant Hangman: The State of Maine and Capital Punishment, 1820-1887", New England Quarterly, vol. 63, no. 2 (June 1990) pp. 271–87.
  5. ^ John Bessler, "The Botched Hanging of William Williams", secretsofthecity.com.
  6. ^ Isabelle Clarke and Danielle Costelle, La Traque des Nazis 1945-2005, soixante ans de traque (film documentary) (in French).
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