Who invented the electric chair. How the electric chair works

Assassin of President McKinley. During the 20th century, it was used in 26 states, but in recent decades it has been actively supplanted by other forms of execution (for example, lethal injection) and is now used quite rarely. From 1952 to 1976, it was also used in the Philippines.

Currently it can be used in six states - in Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia at the choice of the convict along with a lethal injection, and in Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida, only those who committed a crime before a certain date have the right to choose to use the electric chair (in Kentucky - April 1, 1998, in Tennessee - January 1, 1999). In Tennessee and Virginia, the electric chair can also be used in the event that lethal injection components are not found. In Florida, the electric chair is used at the request of the convict, within 30 days of the approval of the death sentence by the Florida Supreme Court, lethal injection is used by default. The last execution in the electric chair in Florida was in 1999. In Nebraska, the electric chair was used as the only method of execution, but on February 8, 2008, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled it was "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by the constitution. In Arkansas and Oklahoma, it can only be used in strictly specified cases, for example, if all other methods of execution are found to be unconstitutional at the time of execution.

In the state of Alabama, since 2018, the procedure for using the methods of execution has been carried out according to the following regulations:

Lethal injection is routinely used
If it is "impossible to use the injection" or if it is declared unconstitutional, an execution with the use of pure nitrogen is applied (a new type of execution should probably be applied with the help of a special mask)
If injections and "execution by inhalation of nitrogen" are declared unconstitutional, or if both methods of execution cannot be applied, the electric chair is used.
If all three methods of execution are declared unconstitutional or the impossibility of their execution, execution is used.

During 2001, 2005, 2011, 2012 and 2014-2018, this method of execution was not used once, in all other years of the XXI century - once. In Kentucky and Nebraska, the electric chair was last used in 1997, in Georgia in 1998 (further use was prohibited by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2001), in Florida in 1999, in Alabama in 2002, in Tennessee - in 2007, in South Carolina - in 2008. In recent years, the electric chair has only been used in Virginia (between 2009 and 2013, three death row prisoners were electrocuted).

The last known case of using the electric chair was recorded on January 16, 2013, when Robert Gleeson, a prisoner who killed two inmates in order to receive a death sentence, was executed in Virginia.

Device and principle of operation

The electric chair is a chair made of dielectric material with armrests and a high back, equipped with straps to firmly secure the prisoner. Hands are attached to the armrests, legs - in special clips of the chair legs. A special helmet is also attached to the chair. Electrical contacts are connected to the ankle attachment points and to the helmet. The hardware includes a step-up transformer. During the execution of the execution, an alternating current with a voltage of the order of 2700 is supplied to the contacts, the current limiting system maintains a current through the body of the convict of order 5. Current and voltage are limited so that the convicted person does not catch fire during the execution.

The chair's power management system is protected against switching on, which must be deactivated immediately before the execution by the person in charge using a special key. According to one of the versions, the chair can have one or more control switches, pressing which turns on the current. In this case, they are turned on simultaneously by different executioners, and in reality, the current turns on only one of them. This order is used so that no one, including the performers themselves, could know who actually carried out the execution (by analogy with the well-known type of execution, when a part of the shooters is given a weapon loaded with blank cartridges).

Execution procedure

The sentenced person is seated in an electric chair, his hands are attached to the armrests, and his legs are attached to the foot contacts. Before putting on the helmet, a hood is put on the suicide bomber's head, or his eyes are glued. The helmet is put on the head of the convict, on which the hair on the crown of the head is shaved before execution. A sponge impregnated with a saline solution is embedded in the helmet to ensure minimal electrical resistance to contact with the head in the helmet and, thus, hasten death and alleviate the physical suffering of the convict. The body is secured with additional straps.

After turning off the protection system, the executioner turns on the current. The voltage is turned on twice, for one minute, with a break of 10 seconds (in different designs, the number of starts and time intervals may differ). After turning off the power, the doctor must make sure that the convicted person is dead. In some US states and states, if death does not occur, the operation may continue. William Wendiver was killed only after the fifth shock.

History

The creation of the electric chair is associated with the name of Thomas Edison. In the 1880s in the United States, Edison, who organized the first DC power supply system, actively competed with new AC power systems, which was called the war of currents. Edison convinced consumers of the shortcomings of competitors' systems, promoted the danger of such systems, including making public experiments on killing animals with alternating current.

These events coincided with the discussion that began in the country on the choice of a more humane method of the death penalty (until the 80s of the XIX century, mainly hanging was used in the USA. the executioner sometimes could not foresee the nuances, and death came not from a fracture of the vertebrae, as was supposed, but from strangulation, which is more painful.

The increasing use of electricity, naturally, was accompanied by periodic accidents, as a result of which people died. In 1881 in Buffalo, New York, dentist Albert Southwick accidentally witnessed the death of an elderly drunk who touched the contacts of an electric generator. Amazed at how quickly and outwardly painlessly died, Southwick approached a friend, Senator David Macmillan, with a proposal to replace the rope with wires. He asked the New York State Legislature to consider the prospects for using electricity under the death penalty in order to avoid hanging. In 1886, a commission was formed to investigate "the most humane and commendable way of carrying out death sentences." At this stage, the famous Thomas Edison was included in the history of the electric chair, and so tenaciously that this chair, by analogy with the guillotine, could be called "Edisonin" (although the prison population of America calls it "yellow mother" or "old smokehouse"). The inventor settled in West Orange (English)Russian(New Jersey) showcase experience: Several cats and dogs were lured onto a metal plate energized by 1000 VAC. In 1888, the New York State Legislature passed legislation establishing execution by electricity as the state's method of carrying out executions.

In the second half of 1888, inventor Harold Brown and Columbia University employee Fred Peterson conducted research in Edison's laboratories on the use of electricity for the death penalty. Within a few months, more than two dozen dogs were electrocuted, according to the results of experiments on December 12, 1888, the group submitted a report to the Forensic Society of the State of New York, in which it recommended the electric chair as an execution weapon (other options were considered, including a tank with water and a rubber-coated table). On January 1, 1889, the Electric Execution Act entered into force in New York State.

The opponent of the electric chair was George Westinghouse, who had previously developed a system for supplying consumers with AC electricity, Edison's main competitor. After the electrocution law was enacted, Westinghouse refused to supply alternators to prisons, which forced Edison and Brown to buy the generators in a roundabout way.

William Kemmler and Joseph Chaplo (the first for the murder of his mistress, the second for the murder of a neighbor) were the first convicted to be executed in the electric chair. Shaplo was pardoned and received a life sentence. Westinghouse tried to save Kemmler, for which he hired lawyers who demanded an appeal against the verdict on the basis that execution by electric chair fell within the definition of "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution, but the appeals were rejected.

In 1890, Edwin Davis, an electrician at the Auburn prison, developed the first working electric chair. On August 6, 1890, William Kemmler was the first in the world to be electrocuted at Auburn Prison. Although one of the reporters said: "He did not hurt at all!" George Westinghouse commented on the execution with the words: "They would have done better with an ax" (Kemmler killed his mistress with an ax).

The electric chair was introduced to Ohio in 1896, Massachusetts in 1898, New Jersey in 1906, Virginia in 1908, and North Carolina in 1910. Over the next ten years, it was legalized in more than ten states and became the most popular instrument of execution in America. In just over a hundred years of use, more than 4,300 people have been executed in the electric chair.

Conceived as a means of discrediting AC power supply systems, the electric chair could not fulfill just this function. Despite its appearance, the use of alternating current has expanded. Edison was later forced to admit that he had underestimated the benefits of alternating current. In 1912 Westinghouse was awarded the Edison Medal for advances in this technology.

Outside the USA

"Owner" Alexander Komin from Vyatskiye Polyany used a homemade electric chair to kill one of his prisoners.

High-profile people who were electrocuted

William Kemmler (, New York) is the first man in the world to be electrocuted.
Martha Place (New York) - The first woman to be electrocuted.
Leon Cholgosh (, New York) - assassin of President McKinley.
Chester Gillett (New York) is an assassin who became the prototype for a fictional character in Theodore Dreiser's novel American Tragedy.
Charles Becker (English)Russian(, New York) - New York police officer, the first police officer in the United States to be sentenced to death for murder.
Sacco and Vanzetti (Massachusetts) - Executed on trumped-up charges, became a textbook example of politically motivated persecution.
Giuseppe Zangara (, Florida) - attempted on the life of President-elect Franklin Roosevelt and assassinated the mayor of Chicago.
Albert Fish (New York) - serial killer known as "Moon Maniac", "Gray Ghost", "Brooklyn Vampire", "Boogie Man", "Wisteria Werewolf".
Bruno Richard Hauptmann (English)Russian(, New Jersey) - German criminal convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr.
Anna Maria Khan (, Ohio
Herman and Paul Petrillo (Pennsylvania) are the leaders of the Philadelphia poison ring.
Herbert Haupt, Edward John Curling, Richard Quirin, Heinrich Harm Heink, Hermann Otto Neubauer, Werner Thiel (Washington) - German agents during World War II, participants in Operation Pastorius (English)Russian.
Louis Lepke (, New York) - famous American gangster of the 1930s, the only mafia leader in the United States who was sentenced to death.
Lena Baker () - African American who was executed for the murder of her employer.
Willie Francis, Louisiana is a black juvenile convict on death row and twice electrocuted (see Francis v. Resweber).
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (, New York) - American communists accused of spying for the Soviet Union.
Rhonda Bell Martin (Alabama) is an American serial killer.
Charles Starkweather (Nebraska) is an American serial killer known as the "drunken killer."
James French (English)Russian(, Oklahoma) - the last prisoner executed before the adoption of the moratorium on the death penalty in the United States in

Who is the chair? A carpenter, an electrician, a scientist - such options come to mind. You will probably be surprised when you find out that this person's profession was different. In this article, we will answer the question: who invented the electric chair? It requires detailed consideration, since the history associated with it is very curious. in the late 19th century he invented the incandescent lamp. Of course, this person is not the one who invented the electric chair. However, this was the first step towards many discoveries related to electricity. This invention, in particular, allowed us to use it to illuminate cities.

Idea from Albert Southwick

Many are interested in the question: who was the creator of the new method of execution? Albert Southwick is believed to be the one who invented the electric chair. His profession is a dentist. The man was from Buffalo, New York. The one who invented the electric chair (his profession, as you can see, is somewhat unexpected), believed that it could be used as a pain reliever in medical practice. One day, Albert saw how one of the inhabitants of Buffalo touched him. This man died, Southwick thought then, painlessly and almost instantly. This incident led him to the idea that execution with the use of electricity could replace the faster and more humane punishment used at that time by hanging. Southwick first proposed using electricity to dispose of unnecessary animals instead of drowning them. Colonel Rockwell, head of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, loved the idea.

Commission conclusion

Southwick conducted a series of experiments on animals in 1882 and published his results in scientific newspapers. It is Albert who is often credited as the inventor of the electric chair. However, many people took part in its development. In particular, Southwick showed the results of his experiments to David Macmillan, a Senator and a friend of his. He said that the execution with the use of electricity is painless, which is its main advantage. McMillian advocated the preservation of the death penalty. This idea attracted him as an argument against its cancellation. What McMillian heard passed on to JB Hill, Governor of New York. In 1886, a special commission was created, which included Southwick (the profession of the man who invented the electric chair - the dentist, as already mentioned), Eluridge Jerry (politician) and Matthew Hale (judge). Her conclusion, which was set out in a 95-page report, stated that the best method of carrying out the death sentence was execution with the use of electricity. The state was advised in this report to replace hanging with the new form of execution.

Death Penalty Law

In 1888, on June 5, the governor signed the corresponding law, which was to come into force in 1889. All that remained was to decide which type or constant should be used. How are they different? Let's figure it out.

Alternating and direct current

Scientists from various countries worked on this issue long before the invention made by Thomas Edison. However, Edison (pictured below) was the first to put into practice the theory developed before him. The first power plant was built in 1879. Edison's system operated on direct current. However, it only flows in one direction, so it was not possible to supply current over a long distance. It was necessary to build power plants to provide a medium-sized city with electricity.

Nikola Tesla, a Croatian scientist, found a way out. He came up with the idea of using alternating current, which can change its direction several times per second, while creating a magnetic field and without losing electrical voltage. You can step up or step up AC voltage using transformers. Such a current can be transmitted over long distances with small losses, after which it can be supplied to consumers with electricity through a step-down transformer.

Starting to use AC

This system attracted investors, one of which was George Westinghouse (pictured below).

He wanted to make it profitable, however, Edison's technology was more popular at the time. It was for Edison that Tesla worked, but he did not pay attention to his developments, and Tesla resigned. The scientist soon patented his ideas. Westinghouse bought 40 patents from Tesla in 1888, and more than a hundred cities in a few years were using the AC system.

"Clash of the Titans"

In 1887, Edison began to discredit the system by demanding that information be collected from his workers about AC-induced deaths. So he hoped to prove that his method was safer for the population.

The "Clash of the Titans" began when the question arose about what type of current should be used for the death penalty. Nikola Tesla (pictured below) at the same time avoided any statements about Thomas and preferred to remain silent. But Thomas smashed Tesla with his inherent peremptory and enthusiasm. The "war of currents" lasted until 2007! In New York, it was not until the 21st century that the last DC wires were symbolically cut. The entire network of America and the whole world was finally transferred to alternating current.

Edison Brochure and Speech

Since Edison did not want his invention to be associated with death in one way or another, he wanted alternating current to be used in an apparatus intended for the death penalty. The scientist published a brochure "Warning" in 1887. In it, he compared direct current with alternating current and pointed out the safety of the latter.

Thomas Edison's speech to the commission made a strong impression. The inventor convinced everyone present that when using alternating current, death from electricity is quick and painless. The commission to address this issue was faced with an alternative to lethal injection, which is considered more humane than execution by electric chair. It was her that in the 20th century began to be used by almost all states where the death penalty existed. Perhaps, many would not have to suffer in the electric chair, if it were not for the competition between the companies, as well as Thomas Edison's persuasive speech before the commission. The issue was also that the execution by lethal injection is carried out by doctors, which for obvious reasons is impossible.

First execution

In 1889, on January 1, the first execution took place using such an invention as the electric chair (its photo is presented below). The unit used for it was called the Vesting chair, or the Westinghouse chair, several decades later. In the spring of 1891, the following executions took place. 4 people were executed for various crimes. The method of execution has been adjusted. The generator has become more powerful and the wires are thicker. The 2nd electrode was connected to the arm and not to the spine. These executions proceeded more smoothly, and a new method was adopted by public opinion.

Execution of William Kemmler

William Kemmler, who killed his common-law wife with an ax, was the first "test" of this innovation. He was executed in the city of Auburn in 1890, on August 6. For known reasons, he could not describe his feelings. Whoever invented the electric chair could not have foreseen what happened. The witnesses who were present at the time the verdict was brought into effect noted that the offender was still alive 15-20 seconds after the 1st grade. I had to turn on the current for a longer time and with a higher voltage. The "experiment" was still painfully and for a long time brought to the end. This execution caused many protests from the world and American public.

Electric chair murder

Let's describe the technology of murder using the electric chair. The perpetrator sits on it and is tied with leather straps to a chair, securing his chest, thighs, ankles and wrists. 2 copper electrodes are fixed on the body: one on the leg (for better conduction of electricity, the skin under it is shaved), and the other on the shaved crown. The electrodes are usually lubricated with a special gel in order to reduce skin burning and improve current flow. An opaque mask is put on the face.

The executioner presses the switch button on the control panel, thereby giving the 1st charge, the voltage of which is from 1700 to 2400 volts, and the duration is about 30-60 seconds. The timer is pre-set and the current is automatically cut off. The doctor, after two charges, examines the body of the offender, because he may still not be killed. As a result of respiratory paralysis and cardiac arrest, death occurs.

Improvement

However, the executors of our time have concluded that instantaneous cardiac arrest (that is, clinical death) does not cause current to pass through the brain. It only prolongs the agony. The criminals are now getting incisions, and electrodes are inserted into the right thigh and left shoulder so that the charge travels through the heart and aorta.

Electric chair - cruel punishment

Does it really matter who invented the electric chair: the carpenter or the electrician? More importantly, this method of punishment is inhuman. Although all methods of execution are cruel to one degree or another, it is the electric chair that often causes tragic malfunctions that cause additional suffering for the sentenced person, especially in cases where the equipment used needs repair or is old. This led to the fact that this type of death penalty was recognized under the influence of Leo Jones, a famous American human rights activist, an inapplicable, cruel punishment that is contrary to the US Constitution.

Now you know who invented the electric chair. Dentist Albert Southwick, apparently, did not even suspect what fate was in store for the idea that had come to his head. Today this method of execution has become one of the symbols of the United States. But the electric chair was invented by a dentist who only wanted to ease the suffering of people.

And who invented this humane instrument of death

The electric chair was invented by Thomas Edison. He is the author of numerous important inventions: during Edison's life, the US Patent Office granted him 1,093 patents for such things as, for example, an electric electoral counter (1868), a carbon telephone membrane (1870), an incandescent lamp with a carbon filament (1879 ) etc. However, here we will talk about his electric chair, patented in 1890.

What is it? We have often seen American films where a prisoner is sentenced to death by electric chair, but have we ever thought about how this hellish machine works?

An electric chair is a chair made of dielectric (that is, non-conductive) material with armrests and a high back, equipped with straps to rigidly restrain the sentenced person. The hands of the condemned are fastened on the armrests, the legs - in special clamps of the legs. A special helmet is also attached to the chair. Electrical contacts are connected to the ankle attachment points and to the helmet. The hardware includes a step-up transformer. During the execution of the execution, an alternating current with a voltage of about 2700 V is applied to the contacts.

The chair is equipped with two switches, which are turned on simultaneously by different executioners, and in reality, the current turns on only one of them. This procedure is used so that no one, including the executors themselves, could know who actually carried out the execution (apparently, this helped to save the executors of the sentence from remorse).

By the way, in some states there is a decree that if a person withstands three sessions of "electrotherapy" in a row, then he is released. Believe it or not, there were some, although, of course, the overwhelming majority of those sentenced died after the first activation.

The electric chair was introduced on August 6, 1890 as a humane means of execution, allowing a criminal to be put to death without causing him unnecessary suffering. Those who advocate this type of execution claim that it is painless, however, you must admit that it is difficult to verify this.

Currently, the electric chair is used in six states - Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia at the choice of the convict, along with lethal injection.

Until recently, execution by electric chair was considered one of the most humane ways of killing 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 caught in the electric chair?

The history of the electric chair

Criminals began to be electrocuted in the late 19th century, when proponents of a "progressive" society decided that previously existing forms of execution, such as burning at the stake, hanging and beheading, were inhumane. From their point of view, a criminal should not suffer additional suffering during the execution process: after all, the most precious thing - his life - is already being taken away from him.

It is believed that the first model of an electric chair was invented in 1888 by Harold Brown, who worked for the Thomas Edison company. According to other sources, dentist Albert Southwick became the inventor of the electric chair.

The essence of the execution is as follows. The convict is shaved baldly on the top of the head and the back of the lower leg. Then the torso and arms are tied tightly with straps to a chair made of dielectric with a high back and armrests. The legs are secured with special clips. At first, the criminals were blindfolded, then they began to put on a hood on their heads, and more recently - a special mask. One electrode is attached to the head, on which the helmet is worn, the other to the leg. The executioner turns on the button of the switch, which passes through the body an alternating current of up to 5 amperes and a voltage of 1700 to 2400 volts. Execution usually takes about two minutes. Two discharges are given, each turns on for one minute, the break between them is 10 seconds. Death, which should occur from cardiac arrest, must be recorded by a doctor.

For the first time this method of execution was applied on August 6, 1890 in the Auburn prison of the American state of New York to William Kemmler, who was convicted of the murder of his mistress Tilly Seigler.

Until now, more than 4 thousand people have been executed in the United States in this way. Also, a similar type of execution was used in the Philippines. The communist spouses Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who worked for Soviet intelligence, ended their lives in the electric chair.

"False humane" procedure

It was assumed that when an electric current is passed through the body, a person will die immediately. But this did not always happen. Often, eyewitnesses had to observe how people, put on an electric chair, fought in convulsions, bit their tongues, froth and blood came out of their mouths, their eyes crawled out of their sockets, and involuntary emptying of the intestines and bladder occurred. Some of them uttered piercing cries during the execution ... Almost always, after the discharge of a discharge from the skin and hair of the convict, a light smoke began to go out. There were also recorded cases when a person sitting in an electric chair caught fire and exploded his head. Quite often, the burnt skin "stuck" to the seat belts and seat. The bodies of the executed turned out, as a rule, so hot that it was impossible to touch them, and then the "aroma" of burnt human flesh soared 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 criminal finally died. The last time his eyeballs melted.

In 1985, in Indiana, William Vandivere was electrocuted five times. It took 17 minutes to kill him.

According to experts, when exposed to such high voltage, the human body, including the brain and other internal organs, is literally roasted alive. Even if death occurs quickly enough, then at least a person feels a strong muscle spasm throughout the body, as well as acute pain in the places of contact with the skin of the electrodes. After this, loss of consciousness usually occurs. Here are the recollections of one survivor: “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 free myself from the bondage. " Willie Francis, 17, who got into the electric chair in 1947, shouted, “Shut it down! Let me breathe! "

Repeatedly the execution became painful as a result of various failures and malfunctions. For example, on May 4, 1990, when the criminal Jesse D. Tafero was executed, a synthetic pad under the helmet caught fire, and the convict received third-fourth degree burns. A similar thing happened on March 25, 1997 with Pedro Medina. In both cases, the current had to be switched 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, who, before the execution, had a leather tape taped not only to his mouth (instead of a gag), but also to his nose, caused a great resonance. As a result, he suffocated.

Stool or injection?

Over time, it became clear that "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, the electric chair is used only in six American states - Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Moreover, the convict is offered a choice - an electric chair or a lethal injection. The aforementioned measure was last applied on January 16, 2013 in Virginia to Robert Gleeson, who deliberately killed two of his cellmates so that life imprisonment was commuted to his death sentence.

In addition, in the USA there is a law: if after the third category the sentenced survives, then he receives a pardon: they say, it means that this is the will of God ...

On August 6, 1890, humanity has written a new page in its history. Scientific and technological progress has also reached such a specific type of activity as the execution of death sentences. The United States of America carried out the first death penalty in the electric chair.

The "electric chair" indirectly owes its appearance to the famous inventor Thomas Edison... In the 1880s, a "war of currents" broke out in the United States - a struggle between AC and DC power systems. Edison was an adept in direct current systems, and Nikola Tesla was an adept in alternating current systems.

Edison, trying to tip the scales in his direction, pointed out the extreme danger of AC systems. For clarity, the inventor sometimes demonstrated eerie experiments, killing animals with alternating current.

In the American society of the late 19th century, literally in love with electricity, the issue of humanizing the death penalty was simultaneously discussed. Many believed that hanging was too great an atrocity that should be replaced by a more humane method of killing.

Unsurprisingly, the idea of the death penalty using electricity has become extremely popular.

Observational dentist

First, the idea of an "electric death machine" came to mind of an American dentist Albert Southwick... Once, in front of his eyes, an elderly drunkard touched the contacts of an electric generator. The death of the unfortunate was instant.

Southwick, who witnessed this scene, shared the observation with his patient and friend. David McMillan.

Mr. Macmillan was a senator and, considering Southwick's proposal a good one, approached the New York State Legislature with an initiative to introduce a new, "progressive" method of execution.

Discussion of the initiative lasted for about two years, and the number of supporters of the new method of execution was constantly growing. Among those who were in favor of both hands was Thomas Edison.

In 1888, a series of additional experiments on killing animals was carried out in Edison's laboratories, after which the authorities received a positive opinion from experts about the possibility of using the "electric chair" for the death penalty. On January 1, 1889, the Electric Execution Act entered into force in New York State.

Supporters of the use of alternating current in everyday life opposed its use for murder in every possible way, but they were powerless.

In 1890, the electrician of the prison of the city of Auburn Edwin Davis built the first working model of the new "death machine".

Electrocution. The illustration was made after experiments on the feasibility of carrying out the death penalty in 1888. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Humane theory

The humanity of the execution, according to the supporters of the invention, was that the electric current rapidly destroys the brain and nervous system of the sentenced person, thereby saving him from suffering. The executed loses consciousness in thousandths of a second, and the pain simply does not have time to reach the brain during this time.

The “electric chair” itself is a chair made of dielectric material with armrests and a high back, equipped with straps to rigidly fix the sentenced person. Hands are attached to the armrests, legs - in special clips of the chair legs. A special helmet is also attached to the chair. Electrical contacts are connected to the ankle attachment points and to the helmet. The current limiting system is designed so that the body of the condemned person does not catch fire during the execution.

After the sentenced person is seated on a chair and fixed, a helmet is put on his head. Before that, the hair on the crown is shaved off. The eyes are either sealed with a plaster, or simply put on a black hood over the head. A sponge soaked in saline is embedded in the helmet: this is done in order to ensure the minimum electrical resistance of contact in the helmet with the head and thus hasten death and alleviate the physical suffering of the person being executed.

Then the current is turned on, which is supplied twice for one minute with an interval of 10 seconds. It is believed that by the time the second minute has elapsed, the sentenced person must be dead.

Critics of the "electric chair" from the very beginning pointed out that all arguments about its humanity are purely theoretical, and in practice everything can turn out quite differently.

First "client"

There were two candidates to go down in history as the first victim of the electric chair - Joseph Chaplot who killed a neighbor, and William Kemmler who hacked his mistress with an ax.

As a result, Shaplo's lawyers achieved a pardon, and Kemmler got the "honor" to test the new invention on himself.

At the time of his execution, William Kemmler was 30 years old. His parents were immigrants from Germany, who did not build a new life in America, but simply drank themselves and died, leaving their son an orphan.

A difficult childhood also affected later life, which did not indulge Kemmler. In the spring of 1889, after a quarrel with his mistress Tilly Ziegler the man killed her with an ax blow.

The court sentenced Kemmler to death, which was to be carried out in the electric chair.

Lawyers, citing the US Constitution prohibiting "cruel and unusual punishment", tried to get the court's decision to be overturned, but their appeal was rejected.

On August 6, 1890, at 6 o'clock in the morning, in the prison in the city of Auburn, the first electric shock passed through the body of William Kemmler.

Fried facts

Things didn't go as the theorists had described. Kemmler's body was convulsing so violently that the prison doctor, confused by what he saw, gave the order to turn off the current in less than 20 seconds, and not after a minute, as planned. At first it seemed that Kemmler was dead, but then he began to make convulsive sighs and moan. It took a while to recharge the device for another attempt at killing. Finally, the current was given a second time, this time for one minute. Kemmler's body began to smoke, the smell of burnt meat spread through the room. After a minute, the physician stated that the convict was dead.

The opinion of the witnesses to the execution, who numbered more than twenty people, turned out to be extremely unanimous - the killing of Kemmler looked extremely disgusting. One of the reporters wrote that the sentenced person was literally “roasted to death”.

The external impression of the journalist was not so deceiving. Forensic doctors who worked with the bodies of those executed in the "electric chair" said that the brain, which is most strongly exposed to the current, is practically welded.

Despite the negative impressions of the witnesses to the execution of William Kemmler, the "electric chair" began to rapidly gain popularity. By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, it had become the most popular method of capital punishment in the United States.

Executed at will

Abroad, however, this kind of execution is not widespread. And in the United States itself, in the 1970s, lethal injection gradually began to supplant the "electric chair".

In the entire history of the use of the "electric chair", more than 4,300 people have been executed on it.

Currently, the electrocution is officially retained in eight states. However, in practice, this execution is resorted to less and less, including due to technical difficulties. The newest "models" of these "death machines" today are more than thirty years old, and some are already more than 70 years old, so during executions they often fail.

In a number of US states, there is a rule according to which the offender himself can choose the method of execution. This is exactly what the 42-year-old who was executed in January 2013 in Virginia did. Robert Gleason... Convicted in 2007 to life imprisonment for the murder of an FBI agent Gleason in prison, dealt with two of his inmates, explaining his actions by the desire to get ... on the "electric chair". Moreover, the offender promised to continue killing inmates if he was not given such an opportunity. As a result, Robert Gleeson got his way, becoming perhaps one of the last "clients" in the history of the "electric chair".