Judicial executions / by John J. de Zouche Marshall.

  • Marshall, John James de Zouche.
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Judicial executions / by John J. de Zouche Marshall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Her Majesty’s Prisons, says (p. 419), “In the cases vvhsre I have seen the most satis- factory results, that is to say, dislocation perfectly produced, the knot has been ad- justed almost under the point of the chin, just a shade to the left ; that, I think, is the best position, because the shock thus falls at right angles to the spinal column, in the weakest part of the neck ; ’’ and, further on (p. 420), “ I have witnessed five executions wliere the rope was thus adjusted, and, in four of them, death was instan- taneous, owing to the complete severance of the spinal cord produced by dislocation ; but, in the fifth case, there was a hitch, the rope caught under the man’s elbow. That would be one of my methods of making it more certain. You must have your knot ‘ submental,’ a.« we call it, that is, under the point of the chin,’’ Later on the same witness says (p. 439), “ I remember carefully contrasting that with another case, both cases being almost precisely the same, except as regards the position of the knot; in the one case it was occipital, and in the other case it was submental, death being caused by asphyxia in the former and resulting from dislocation in the latter.’’ iMr. .lames Barr, iM.D., Surgeon to Her Majesty’s Kirkdale Prison, Liverpool, says (p. 768) : “ I think it is better underneath the chin, but the position of the knot is not of so much importance as is generally supposed ; ’’ while later on he says (p. 770): “My own opinion is that it should be placed underneath the chin. There is a slight leverage action, and it also tightens better ; if it is placed underneath the chin, the head is thrown so far back that the tightening takes place very quickly.” Again (p. 77.3) : “ The submental knot is best Yes : and the ring should be directed forwards, so that there should be no risk of its slipping backwards to the nape of the neck.” And, finally, at par. 797 : “ What was the position of the knot in that case in which there was separation between the fifth and sixth vertebrae ? ”—The position of the knot in that case wiis exactly on the chin.” Long before I was aware of such overwhelming evidence from experts in favour of the submental knot, I felt instinctively as a “ mere surgeon ” that it must be the best, and I full}’ believed, until I witnessed my first execution, that it was firmly established in our prisons. I soon found, however, that no attempt was being made to carry out the sentence of death in the most humane manner, the pi’ison surgeons taking little or no interest in the matter, and leaving everything to 'BeiTy, the hangman, whose vanity is only equalled b}’ his ignorance. 'I'liis man changes and “ improves his system ” where and when he likes, trusting alone in very tight pinioning, which renders movement almost impossible (the expression of the face being concealed by the white cap) and the gullibility of newspajier reporters, who base all their reports on his statements, which are often backed up (as the Committee seem well to know) by the prison surgeons, more especially, I have noticed, since I (an outsider) have dared to suggest humane improvements. Thus but very little dependence can be placed in newspawer reports. My worst case of painful strangulation (Hewett, of Gloucester, June, 1886), after a drop of 6 feet 6 inches, was reported, as usual, “ instantaneous, though the wretched man struggled in the most apparent and desperate manner for about three minutes, and his face, which I uncovered, showed unmistakable and terrible signs of torture. Iti a recent case some reporters said “ the neck was broken by the fall, while others said that the culprit “ struggled for a few minutes.” I can only say that in the cases of Currell and Lipski, whose spinal cords must have been ruptured, the bodies after the drop were as absolutely free from movement as they were at the end of the prescribed hour for hanging, the action of the heart not being, of course, visible. Believing, then, that the submental knot wa.s in vogue (before I ascertained the contrary), and meditating over a remedy for the slow and struggling deaths re- ported, I set myself to render more perfect and certain this submental knot sy.stem, believing, as I now do, that if the ascending rope could be maintained on or opposite the tip of the chin (the eye from which said rope makes its exit being, of course, in front of the neck), the leverage upwards and backwards would be more complete, and the process rendered absolutely cert.aiii to produce dislocation with about half the drop used with the clumsy subaural knot, which depends entirely on brute force, gathered in the fall, to produce a violent circular chop on the neck. My first inyen- tion with thiti object consisted in a leather-covered trough, which could be lapidly
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