Throughout history, execution was meant to be swift and final. But sometimes, it all went horribly wrong.
From hangmen who couldn’t tie a proper knot to electric chairs that failed mid-surge, the path to death wasn’t always immediate. In fact, some executions turned into agonizing, drawn-out horrors that left witnesses shaken and sparked public outcry.
In this post, we’re diving into 7 grisly botched executions you’ve probably never heard about, pulled straight from old newspaper reports that documented the gruesome details.
And so…
The Noose Had to Be Reset
Let’s begin with an 1876 newspaper report from Ohio that describes a particularly grisly hanging.
The report states that:
“Francis Ept was hanged at Coshocton today for the murder of Abram Wertheimer of that place last November. Wertheimer was Ept’s employer and the latter killed him in order to obtain a sum of money which Wertheimer had, but which the murderer failed to obtain.
“The plea of insanity was put in, but was not entertained. He had previously murdered a man in Serbia.
“He walked to the scaffold with the utmost composure. The knot slipped and lodged under his chin and caused him much pain. His cries for mercy were heartrending.
“He was pulled up and the noose reset. The trap was sprung again and his neck was broken. He died instantly.”
Source: Worcester Daily Press. Worcester, Mass., 30 Sept. 1876.
Not a Good Year for Executions
Execution errors were apparently common in 1879. Hangmen and marksmen alike struggled to carry out sentences quickly and effectively.
One short news report states:
“In Missouri last week, a rope was used which failed under the mild test of a human weight of 150 pounds, or thereabouts, and the man was subjected to the annoyance of being hanged over again.
“In North Carolina, an attempt to hang three men at once resulted in a prompt hanging of one and a tedious strangulation of the other two.
“In Utah, where the law with a wise distrust of bungling hangmen allows criminals to choose death by shooting, it took nearly half an hour for three marksmen to shoot one murderer to death.”
Source: The New Bloomfield, Pa. Times. New Bloomfield, Pa., 03 June 1879.
Physicians Got Involved
In 1888, a hanging went so badly that the attending physicians took matters into their own hands.
The article reads:
“The awful death of ‘Blinky’ Morgan, whose execution was botched at Columbus the other day, is an instance of the numerous unsuccessful hangings.
“Morgan fell seven feet, when the trap was sprung, without breaking his neck, and the bands loosening from his arms, he seized the rope above his head and tried to free himself from its terrible clutch upon his throat.
“Two physicians seized his arms and held them until he struggled in the agonies of slow strangulation, and it was 24 minutes before his heart ceased to beat.”
Source: Wheeling Sunday Register. Wheeling, W. Va., 12 Aug. 1888.
The First Shock Was Not Fatal
Hanging and gunshots weren’t the only methods that failed. Even the electric chair could malfunction.
In 1893, William B. Taylor’s electrocution at Auburn State Prison in New York didn’t go according to plan.
It was reported that:
“William B. Taylor was executed by electricity Thursday at the Auburn, NY, state prison for a murder committed a year ago. The execution was marked by a horrible feature, the first shock not proving fatal, simply throwing him into a comatose state, from which he began to recover. The apparatus failed to respond to the second touch of the lever and it was found that the dynamo was broken. Repairs were made and nearly an hour later Taylor was again placed in the chair and his execution was completed.”
Source: News and Citizen. Morrisville, Vt., 03 Aug. 1893.
Shot and Then Strangled
In 1894, a member of the Choctaw Nation survived a firing squad—and had to be manually strangled to death.
According to the news:
“Silas Lewis, a condemned Choctaw murderer, was shot at Wilburton at 10 o’clock yesterday morning. Lewis lived 30 minutes after being shot and had to be strangled to end his sufferings.”
Source: The Topeka State Journal. Topeka, Kansas, 06 Nov. 1894.
A Careless Hanging in Virginia
Now, as we step into the 1900s, we find that executioners weren’t getting any better at their trade. Take, for instance, the hanging that occurred in Virginia, 1907.
The newspaper tells us that:
“There was a harrowing scene at the hanging in Farmville of Moses Hill and William Ruffin, both convicted of murder… Hill weighed 275 pounds. The rope broke and he walked calmly back to the scaffold, when it broke a second time, and he died in agony on the ground.”
Source: The Evening Times. Grand Forks, N.D., 15 Feb. 1907.
He Was Strangled, Not Hanged
And finally, let’s jump 42 years to 1949, when a convicted murderer was sentenced to hang in Maryland.
According to the news article, Eugene James dangled for 15 minutes before dying of strangulation. The gruesome report reads:
“The knot of the hangman’s noose slipped when James dropped through the trap. The knot caught under his chin and he hung, screaming and writhing convulsively, as a prison physician tried to ease the pain with a morphine injection.”
The botched execution reignited public calls to end hangings in Maryland. The last hanging took place in 1955, after which the state switched to the gas chamber.
Source: The Miami Times. Miami, Fla., 10 Sept. 1949.
