Criminal Curiosities.
Political and media bits that caught my eye.
When Frederick Parker and Albert Probert mounted the gallows at Wandsworth Prison, they died never knowing they'd taken a singular place in Britain's chronicles of crime. Theirs would be last execution in British prison to be witnessed by a gentleman (or lady) of the press. Until the Capital Punishment (Amendment) Act of 1868 executions were … Continue reading On This Day in 1934; The last British hanging witnessed by a journalist.
So, as you're no doubt aware, I have an interest in true crime and I ted to cover the more unusual bits and pieces. If you're interested in the subject generally then it's hard to avoid the plethora of websites and blogs out there that deal with it, although the tone and style of some … Continue reading True Crime Blogs And Websites: Some Top Picks.
"Prisoner at the Bar, the sentence of this court is that you be taken from this place to a lawful prison and thence to a place of execution where you shall be hanged by the neck until you are dead. And that afterwards your body shall be cut down and buried within the precincts of … Continue reading Trial Watchers – A Strange Breed.
Arizona's botched execution of Joseph Wood, during which he received a lethal injection that took almost two hours to actually kill him, was the latest in a long, long line of botched executions in the US. The method used is immaterial. All execution methods are evolved with human experimentation, by executioners testing new methods or … Continue reading Killing Them Nicely? The Myth Of ‘Humane Execution.’
Here's an interesting link for the inside track on this debacle. It's a preliminary summary from Robert Patton (Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections) to Mary Fallin (Oklahoma State Governor): https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8bT8f-N8gQvT0liN0I3d1NIRlU/edit?pli=1 Here's the text in full. Further comment by me is probably unnecessary:
