Two Terrible Experiences.
The whole of the duties of an executioner are unpleasant, but there
are exceptional incidents occurring at times, which stand out upon
the tablet of one's memory, and which can not be recalled without an
involuntary shudder. I have had two of these experiences, and as people
should always learn by their failures, have turned them to practical
account as lessons for the future. The first was the attempted
execution of John Lee, which resulted in the Home Office making an
investigation into the arrangements for executions in the different
gaols, and eventually to their issuing an official plan for the drop,
which has been used in all prisons where scaffolds have since been
erected. The second of these experiences was at the execution of Robert
Goodale, when the length of the drop caused the head to be severed
from the body. This taught me that the long-drop system then in use,
and introduced by Mr. Marwood, was faulty in some cases, and caused me
to work out my present table of lengths of drop, as explained in the
chapter on "My Method of Execution."
There are so many erroneous ideas afloat about the details of these two
cases that I think a good purpose may be served by giving the actual
particulars, especially as no true explanation has ever been published
of the difficulty which occurred in the case of Lee.
Lee was found guilty of the murder of Miss Keyse, in whose house at
Babbacombe he was employed as a servant. Eight o'clock on Monday,
February 23rd, 1885, was the time fixed for his execution. The scaffold
and its arrangements had not been used for a previous execution, in
their then position, though the drop had been used once, for the
execution of Mrs. Took, but it was then fixed in another place. On
the Saturday I examined this drop, and reported that it was much too
frail for its purpose, but I worked the lever and found that the doors
dropped all right. On the Monday morning, at the appointed time, I
brought out the prisoner in the usual way, pinioned him and adjusted
the noose. He was perfectly calm, almost indifferent. When the noose
was adjusted I stood back and pulled over the lever. The noise of the
bolts sliding could be plainly heard, but the doors did not fall. I
stamped on the drop, to shake it loose, and so did some of the warders,
but none of our efforts could stir it. Lee stood like a statue, making
no sound or sign. As soon as we found our efforts useless we led the
condemned man away. We tried the doors, which fell easily; then Lee was
placed in position again, and again the doors refused to fall. Then
the prisoner was taken away, and eventually his sentence was commuted.
Perhaps it would be well to state here that the report to the effect
that Lee has been since executed, and another report to the effect
that he has been liberated, are both equally false; for he is still in
prison.
Various reasons were given to account for the failure of the workings,
but it was most generally believed that it was caused by the doors
being swollen with the rain which fell on the Sunday night. That this
was not the cause is proved, firstly, by the fact that the doors
fell all right when the weight of the prisoner was not on them, and
secondly, by the fact that they would not fall with the prisoner on
them, even when we had chopped and planed down the sides where it was
supposed that they stuck.
The Governor of the Gaol, and the Under-Sheriff, who were present, were
terribly upset about the failure of the attempted execution, and the
prolonged and terrible suspense in which the prisoner was kept. They
were almost frantic about it, but nothing could be done in the matter.
The Under-Sheriff asked me to write out a brief statement of the facts,
together with my opinion of the cause of the difficulty, and I give a
copy of my letter below.
Executioner's Office,
1, Bilton Place, City Road,
Bradford, Yorks.,
_4th March, 1885._
_Re_ JOHN LEE.
Sir,
In accordance with the request contained in your letter of the
30th inst., I beg to say that on the morning of Friday, the 20th
ult., I travelled from Bradford to Bristol, and on the morning of
Saturday, the 21st, from Bristol to Exeter, arriving at Exeter at
11-50 a.m., when I walked direct to the County Gaol, signed my name
in your Gaol Register Book at 12 o'clock exactly. I was shown to
the Governor's office, and arranged with him that I would go and
dine and return to the Gaol at 2-0. p.m. I accordingly left the
Gaol, partook of dinner, and returned at 1-50 p.m., when I was
shown to the bedroom allotted to me which was an officer's room
in the new Hospital Ward. Shortly afterwards I made an inspection
of the place of Execution. The execution was to take place in a
Coach-house in which the Prison Van was usually kept. Two Warders
accompanied me on the inspection. In the Coach-house I found a Beam
about four inches thick, and about a foot in depth, was placed
across the top of the Coach-house. Through this beam an iron bolt
was fastened with an iron nut on the upper side, and to this bolt
a wrought-iron rod was fixed, about three-quarters of a yard long
with a hole at the lower end to which the rope was to be attached.
Two Trap-doors were placed in the floor of the Coach-house, which
is flagged with stone, and these doors cover a pit about 2 yards
by 1½ yards across, and about 11 feet deep. On inspecting these
doors I found they were only about an inch thick, but to have
been constructed properly should have been three or four inches
thick. The ironwork of the doors was of a frail kind, and much too
weak for the purpose. There was a lever to these doors, and it
was placed near the top of them. I pulled the lever and the doors
dropped, the catches acting all right. I had the doors raised,
and tried the lever a second time, when the catch again acted
all right. The Governor was watching me through the window of his
office and saw me try the doors. After the examination I went to
him, explained how I found the doors, and suggested to him that for
future executions new trap-doors should be made about three times
as thick as those then fixed. I also suggested that a spring should
be fixed in the Wall to hold the doors back when they fell, so that
no rebounding occurred, and that the ironwork of the doors should
be stronger. The Governor said he would see to these matters in
future. I spent all the Sunday in the room allotted to me, and did
not go outside the Gaol. I retired to bed about 9-45 that night.
The execution was fixed to take place at eight o'clock on the
morning of Monday the 23rd ultimo.
On the Monday morning I arose at 6-30, and was conducted from the
Bedroom by a Warder, at 7-30, to the place of execution. Everything
appeared to be as I had left it on the Saturday afternoon. I fixed
the rope in my ordinary manner, and placed everything in readiness.
I did not try the Trap-doors as they appeared to be just as I had
left them. It had rained heavily during the nights of Saturday
and Sunday. About four minutes to eight o'clock I was conducted
by the Governor to the condemned Cell and introduced to John Lee.
I proceeded at once to pinion him, which was done in the usual
manner, and then gave a signal to the Governor that I was ready.
The procession was formed, headed by the Governor, the Chief
Warder, and the Chaplain followed by Lee. I walked behind Lee and
6 or 8 warders came after me. On reaching the place of execution
I found you were there with the Prison Surgeon. Lee was at once
placed upon the trap-doors. I pinioned his legs, pulled down the
white cap, adjusted the Rope, stepped on one side, and drew the
lever--but the trap-door did not fall. I had previously stood upon
the doors and thought they would fall quite easily. I unloosed
the strap from his legs, took the rope from his neck, removed the
White Cap, and took Lee away into an adjoining room until I made an
examination of the doors. I worked the lever after Lee had been
taken off, drew it, and the doors fell easily. With the assistance
of the warders the doors were pulled up, and the lever drawn a
second time, when the doors again fell easily. Lee was then brought
from the adjoining room, placed in position, the cap and rope
adjusted, but when I again pulled the lever it did not act, and in
trying to force it the lever was slightly strained. Lee was then
taken off a second time and conducted to the adjoining room.
It was suggested to me that the woodwork fitted too tightly in
the centre of the doors, and one of the warders fetched an axe
and another a plane. I again tried the lever but it did not act.
A piece of wood was then sawn off one of the doors close to where
the iron catches were, and by the aid of an iron crowbar the
catches were knocked off, and the doors fell down. You then gave
orders that the execution should not be proceeded with until you
had communicated with the Home Secretary, and Lee was taken back
to the Condemned Cell. I am of opinion that the ironwork catches
of the trap-doors were not strong enough for the purpose, that the
woodwork of the doors should have been about three or four times
as heavy, and with iron-work to correspond, so that when a man of
Lee's weight was placed upon the doors the iron catches would not
have become locked, as I feel sure they did on this occasion, but
would respond readily. So far as I am concerned, everything was
performed in a careful manner, and had the iron and woodwork been
sufficiently strong, the execution would have been satisfactorily
accomplished.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
JAMES BERRY.
Henry M. James, Esq.,
Under-Sheriff of Devon,
The Close, Exeter.
The other miserable experience which lingers in my memory was, as
before stated, the execution of Robert Goodale. He was condemned to
death for the murder of his wife, and on November 30th, 1885, I was
at Norwich Castle to conduct the execution. At that time I was working
with my original table of lengths of drop, which I had based upon Mr.
Marwood's system. This table, and some particulars of Goodale's case,
or rather, of the new calculations which I made in consequence of the
lesson then learned, will be found in the chapter on "My Method of
Execution." He weighed fifteen stones, and the calculated drop for a
man of that weight, according to the old table, was 7 ft. 8 in. As
Goodale did not seem very muscular, I reduced the drop by about two
feet--in fact, as closely as I could measure it, to 5 ft. 9 in. The
rope that I used was one made and supplied by the Government, and I
had used it seven days previously for the execution of John Williams,
at Hereford. The drop was built on a plan supplied by the Government,
and had been used before. In fact, everything was in perfect working
order. The Governor of the gaol had been specially anxious that
everything should be right, and had taken all possible precautions
to avoid a hitch. He had personally tested the drop on the Thursday
morning before, and on the Saturday had again tested it, in company
with an engineer. The whole of the arrangements were carried out in
the usual manner, and when I pulled the lever the drop fell properly,
and the prisoner dropped out of sight. We were horrified, however, to
see that the rope jerked upwards, and for an instant I thought that
the noose had slipped from the culprit's head, or that the rope had
broken. But it was worse than that, for the jerk had severed the head
entirely from the body, and both had fallen together to the bottom of
the pit. Of course, death was instantaneous, so that the poor fellow
had not suffered in any way; but it was terrible to think that such a
revolting thing should have occurred. We were all unnerved and shocked.
The Governor, whose efforts to prevent any accident had kept his nerves
at full strain, fairly broke down and wept.
The inquest was a trying ordeal for all concerned, and it was a great
comfort to me to find that the Governor and the Gaol Surgeon both
gave evidence as to the care with which every detail had been carried
out. In the evidence I mentioned that I had hanged one heavier man
previously, namely, Joseph Lawson, who weighed 16 stones 8 lbs., and to
whom I gave a drop of 8 feet. In his case there was not even abrasion
of the skin of the neck. When I finished my evidence the Coroner
said:--"I am bound to say, before you leave the room, that as far as
the evidence has gone there seems to be nothing to throw any blame upon
you, either from want of skill or being in an improper condition."
After this the evidence of the Gaol Surgeon was taken, and the jury
returned a verdict to the effect that "Robert Goodale came to his death
by hanging, according to the judgment of the law; and that no one was
to blame for what had occurred."
* * * * *
In the foregoing I have spoken of _two_ terrible experiences, and
some of my readers, with the execution of Conway, at Kirkdale, fresh
in their memories, will ask why it is not mentioned. The fact is, the
foregoing was written before Conway's execution took place, and as the
mishap which occurred on that occasion was in no way due to my own
ignorance or carelessness, but was exactly what I expected would happen
in consequence of my arrangements being interfered with by others, the
shock that I received was by no means so great as on the two other
occasions. Particulars of this execution will be found in the section
headed, "The Drop," of the chapter on "My Method of Execution."