Nov. 5
AUSTRALIA:
DEATH BY HANGING:
Hanging was the only method of execution used in Australia.
The last person executed in Australia was Ronald Ryan in 1967.
Today, many countries continue to use hanging as a means of
state-sanctioned killing.
The prisoner was weighed the day before the execution.
Rehearsals were performed several days before the hanging took place,
using a sandbag of the same weight as the prisoner.
This was to determine the length of 'drop' necessary to ensure a quick
death. The 'drop' was based on the prisoner's weight, to deliver 1260
foot-pounds of force to the neck. The prisoner's weight in pounds
(kilograms) was divided into 1260 to arrive at the 'drop' in feet.
If the rope was too long, the prisoner would be decapitated.
If the rope was too short, death by strangulation would result - that
could take as long as 45 minutes. The rope was about 3/4-inch (2
centimetres) to 1 and 1/4-inch (3 centimetres) in diameter and about 30
feet (900 centimetres) long. It would be boiled and stretched to eliminate
springing or coiling. The knot was lubricated with wax or soap - to ensure
a smooth sliding action.
Immediately before the execution, the prisoner's hands and legs were tied
and secured, the noose was placed around the neck, with the knot behind
the left ear. A white hood was then pulled over the prisoner's head.
Hooding the prisoner saves the officials who have to witness the
execution, from seeing the prisoner's face as he is about to die, and
after the death.
Not looking at the condemned person's face was one way of coming to terms
with state-sanctioned murder, but righteousness was another.
The execution took place when a trap-door was opened and the prisoner fell
through. At the end of the 'drop' the body, still accelerating under the
force of gravity, delivered a massive blow to the back and one side of the
neck, which combined with the downward momentum of the body, breaks the
neck and ruptures the spinal cord. The prisoner's weight caused a rapid
fracture-dislocation of the neck. Death by hanging was caused by
dislocation of the 3rd and 4th cervical vertebrae or asphyxiation.
However, instantaneous death was rarely achieved.
Death by hanging is not a humane method of exterminating a human life. It
can be a very cruel death. The condemned often collapse or faint before
the noose can be properly positioned over his head. Death by hanging is
often botched, or carried out in such a way as to intentionally maximise
the prisoner's suffering.
Botched hangings result in strangulation, obstructed blood flow, or
beheading. If the prisoner had strong neck muscles, was of light-weight,
if the 'drop' was too short, or if the noose was wrongly positioned, the
fracture-dislocation would not have been rapid and death resulted from
slow asphyxiation. The prisoner writhes and throttles to death over
several minutes. In medical terms - death from cerebral contusion, shock
and asphysia.
There have been reported cases of the rope breaking during the 'drop'
which resulted in the prisoner falling to the ground. After officials
replaced the broken rope, the prisoner would again have to endure the
emotional and physical torture of being hanged for a 2nd time, usually
taking place within the hour.
In another incident, the head of a prisoner split from the body during the
hanging.
When a healthy human being is hanged, his face becomes engorged, the
tongue protrudes, the mouth vomits and drools, the eyes pop, the body
defecates, violent movements of body limbs occur, and the face begins to
turn a greyish-black.
Although the prisoner may appear to be unconscious, the heart does not
completely stop beating for some 20 minutes. Most people do not know that
a human heart beats on its own, and continues to do so, even when the rest
of the body has shut down. This happens because the human heart is
hard-wired with electrical impulses. Thus, during a phase of some 20
minutes, the pulsations of the doomed heart become fainter and slower as
the heart struggles to maintain its normal function to pump blood
throughout the body, intent on keeping the body alive. Eventually, the
heart lapses into a spasmodic rhythm, then begins to flutter, before it
slowly collapses, fails, and finally stops all movement.
In medical terms - this is the "true" time of death.
The "official" time of death portrayed to the public is deliberately
distorted for the obvious reason.
It has been generally assumed that fracture-dislocation of the neck causes
instantaneous loss of sensation. Sensory pathways from below the neck may
rupture, but the sensory signals from the skin above the noose and from
the trigeminal nerve may continue to reach the brain until hypoxia blocks
them. The belief that fracture of the spinal cord causes instantaneous
death is wrong - whether it causes instantaneous loss of consciousness
seems highly probable.
The last recorded botched execution was that of Robert David Clayton in
1951 at Pentridge Prison. The hanging had been unaccountably botched by
the hangman, the same hangman (alias Mr Jones) who hanged Ronald Ryan in
1967. According to Pentridge Prison acting government medical officer Dr
John Whiteside, Clayton remained conscious at the end of the rope for some
five minutes after the 'drop', eventually dying slowly of strangulation.
The coroner established that Clayton died from cerebral contusion, shock
and asphysia.
Another reported case of a botched execution was that of Colin Campbell
Ross, hanged in 1922 at the Old Melbourne Gaol. When the hangman pulled
the gallows lever, the knot of the noose did not run freely. At that time,
authorities had decided to experiment with a 4-stranded rope rather than
the usual 3-stranded European hemp. The rope fractured, but not severed,
Ross' spinal cord - his windpipe was torn and obstructed by his destroyed
larynx. Ross throttled with rasping breaths, and he convulsed while
hanging on the rope. On three ocassions Ross bent his knees and flexed his
arms as he battled his killer bonds. His death by asphyxiation took some
20 minutes.
What makes this case more harrowing is that eighty years after Ross was
hanged, evidence has uncovered startling new information that Ross almost
certainly was innocent of his crime of rape and murder. New testing
conducted on the original hair samples from the dead victim demonstrates
conclusively that key evidence put to the jury at Ross' trial was wrong.
The death penalty is a barbaric, brutal, cruel, degrading and inhuman act
of pure vengeance - a violation of the most fundamental universal human
right ... the right to life.
(source: AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY (ACADP)
