8. Decapitation
We’ll now take a look at the dark world of capital punishment, but let’s not lose our heads (pun very much intended, thanks).
So, let’s talk about decapitation. One of the favourite soundbites of schoolchildren learning about the Tudors, is that the recently liberated head can sometimes remain conscious for a short time after decapitation.
Horrifyingly, this is probably true. The question is how long.
One detailed report from a Dr. Beaurieux in 1905, who reportedly managed to have something of a chat with a decapitated head, describes:
“The face relaxed, the lids half closed on the eyeballs, leaving only the white of the conjunctiva visible […] It was then that I called in a strong, sharp voice: ‘Languille!’ I saw the eyelids slowly lift up, without any spasmodic contractions … Next Languille’s eyes very definitely fixed themselves on mine and the pupils focused themselves.”
He repeated this three times, with the head only becoming unresponsive on the third attempt. If this is truly the case then it could be that the head survives for anything up to 30 seconds. Some scientists reckon it’s probably closer to 3-5 seconds, due to the rapid decrease in blood pressure. 3-5 seconds without a body, however, is still 3-5 seconds too long.
This is all if everything goes swimmingly too. Decapitations carried out with an axe all-too-often took multiple blows to sever the head. The execution of Mary Stuart took three blows, during which she let out a horrible groan of pain and (according to some) kept praying. The executioner eventually had to hack the rest off with a knife.
Regardless of how long consciousness lingers, most scientists agree that beheading, no matter how quick and clean, would produce excruciating pain for at least a few seconds.
7. Lethal Injection
In the last 40 years, since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, the United States has executed almost 1,500 of its criminals with at least another 13 planned for 2016.
Regardless of how barbaric you consider that practice to be, most people tend to agree that our methods are much more humane than all of that messy decapitation and hanging that used to go on. Let’s all have a pat on the back for being so clever and moral.
However, this might not actually be true.
It is now thought that the most common method of execution, the lethal injection, could actually be much more cruel and painful than it looks. There are three elements to a lethal injection, sodium thiopental (to render you unconscious), pancuronium bromide (to paralyse you) and potassium chloride (to kill you).
The thing is that, even though it looks like a medical procedure, the whole thing is virtually unregulated. There are no studies, no trials and no real “standard dose” that would ensure it works properly.
It is thought that many convicts are given a dose of sodium thiopental that is far too low, often the highest dose administered is only two times the lethal dose for a small animal. This means that they might be paralysed, but they’ll still be semi-conscious as the other two ingredients slowly suffocate them and stop their heart – the process of which is extremely painful. Eyewitness reports have included instances in which inmates groan, writhe and even attempt to sit up during the procedure.
So that’s grim, but you could always go for the electric chair, right? Wrong.
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