11/19/2024
Hanging.
Hanging used to be the primary method of ex*****on of a prisoner. It was one of the most common methods of capital punishment since the Middle Ages. Homers Odyssey was the first known account of ex*****on by hanging. The last person punished by hanging in the U.S was Billy Bailey in the state of Delaware in 1996. The first step of the ex*****on was to weigh the prisoner the day prior and conduct a trial run using a sandbag that weighs the same. This is an important step because it determines the length of the “drop” necessary to guarantee a quick death. If the rope is too long, the prisoner could be decapitated and if it’s too short, the strangulation could take as long as 45 minutes. The rope should be ¾-1¼ inches in diameter. The rope is boiled and stretched to eliminate spring or coiling and the knot should be lubricated with wax or soap to ensure a smooth sliding action. To begin the ex*****on, the prisoners’ legs and hands are secured, they are blindfolded, and the noose is placed on their neck with the knot behind their left ear. A trap door is opened, and the prisoner falls through. The prisoners’ weight when falling causes a sudden, quick fracture-dislocation to the neck, which causes their death. Under the circumstances that the prisoner has strong neck muscles, is very light, the drop is too short, or the noose has been wrongly positioned, the fracture-dislocation is not rapid which results in death from slow asphyxiation. When this happens, the face becomes engorged, the tongue protrudes, the eyes pop, the body defecates, and violent movements of the limbs occur.
