Pierrepoint (movie)

Let Him Have It

Last Public Hanging

Newgate Gaol in London

The last man to be publicly hanged in Great Britain was 29 year old Michael Barrett, who was a member of the Fenians (the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood.) His crime? The Clerkenwell bombing in 1867 which killed 12 people and severely wounded many more.

Barret delivered a passionate speech in court before sentence was passed:

"I am far from denying, nor will the force of circumstances compel me to deny my love of my native land. I love my country and if it is murderous to love Ireland dearer than I love my life, then it is true, I am a murderer. If my life were ten times dearer than it is and if I could by any means, redress the wrongs of that persecuted land by the sacrifice of my life, I would willingly and gladly do so."

On 26th May, 1868 in front of thousands who were jeering and singing "Rule Britannia", Michael Barrett was hanged outside the walls of Newgate Prison. The hangman was William Calcraft.

Execution @ Tyburn

Penderyn

14 Days in May

Fourteen Days in May is a documentary directed by Paul Hamann. The program recounts the final days before the execution of Edward Earl Johnson, an American prisoner convicted of rape and murder. Johnson protested his innocence and claimed that his confession had been made under duress. He was executed in Mississippi's gas chamber on May 20, 1987.

China Rocks

This was an article I wrote in 2009, it could be wriiten today for that woman in Bali.

China they have a saying regarding the death penalty - kill the chicken to scare off the monkeys - or words to that effect, and I am in total agreement. If you are greedy (or stupid) enough to attempt to smuggle drugs into China then you must accept the fate that awaits if you are caught: execution often by firing squad.
Todays execution of EU national, Akmal Shaikh, has stirred up the issue once again, with Britain condemning China and the tabloids screaming 'Mentally Ill Man Executed!' The shock! The horror! (The bile inducing support for criminals). What exactly are the UK angry at? China carrying out THEIR punishment for THEIR laws? I find it arrogant in the extreme that Britain thinks it can tell another country they shouldn't execute a criminal because he/she is British, especially a country with zero tolerance toward criminal behaviour as opposed to here in the UK where we seem to go out of our way to make criminals as comfortable as possible.
We have people who do not understand why anyone would risk smuggling drugs in such places as China and trot out mental health issues as some kind of excuse for their transgressions. Allow me to help here: there are, believe it or not, bad and greedy people in this world, people with clear minds (before they recieve a death sentence) who are more than willing to attempt to make easy money on the smuggling circuit just like there are burglars who continue to steal knowing they could end up in one of our plush prisons.
Shaikh tried his chances, lost and is in his grave because of it. Britain's lily livered can huff and puff all they want but the smuggler is dead and good riddance to him. And no, this execution won't deter another criminal to try his hand at smuggling because its plain to anyone that the death penalty isn't about deterence - its a punishment. However we'll chalk it up as a bonus if somebody is indeed put off by these events.
There should be no sympathy directed at Shaikh, nor should China be shunned for following their laws. They ought to be applauded and I only wish we treated our criminals with the same strict hand. (I doubt they have feral teenage yobs terrorizing pensioners and swigging cider on street corners).
Drugs cause an infinite amount of misery, which rots communities. One less smuggler is a reason to be championed.
'Oh but this poor man was mentally ill!' Cry the cotton hearts. Yes dears, they all try that stroke on death row, shame on you for believing it. If Shaikh had gotten away with this he would have been taking his mental illness all the way to the bank. Think about that.

Gallows Ticket

Jonathan Wild was 'thief taker General' and ironically the most infamous criminal in London in th 18th century. He was hnged at Tyburn in 1725. As sentence was passed he felt terrified and asked for a reprieve but was refused. He could not eat or go to church, and suffered from insanity and gout. On the morning of his execution, in fear of death, he attempted suicide by drinking a large dose of laudanum, but because he was weakened by fasting, he vomited violently and sank into a coma that he would not awaken from.
When Wild was taken to the gallows at Tyburn on 24 May 1725, Daniel Defoe said that the crowd was far larger than any they had seen before and that, instead of any celebration or commiseration with the condemned;

"wherever he came, there was nothing but hollowing and huzzas,
as if it had been upon a triumph."

Wild's hanging was a great event, and tickets were sold in advance for the best vantage points (see the reproduction of the gallows ticket above). Even in a year with a great many macabre spectacles, Wild drew an especially large and boisterous crowd. Eighteen-year-old Henry Fielding was in attendance. Wild was accompanied by William Sperry and the two Roberts Sanford and Harpham, three of the four prisoners who had been condemned to die with Wild a few days before.[34] Because he was heavily drugged, he was the last to die after the three of them. The hangman, Richard Arnet, had been a guest at Wild's wedding.

Redemption

I don't believe in hell. Once the condemned inmate is dead he/she has paid the price. Their slate is clean as it weere. (Some Wardens and executioners thought this too.) There is no reason in executing them otherwise if theres no redemption. If theyre still guilty in death one might as well just lock them up for life (and throw away the key. We don't make the rule in the Afterlife and I personally believe that whoever does will forgive sinners, even those guilty of the worst sins.
I am not condoning rape or murder (I would execute all offenders) but there are other crimes equal to these such as ignorance and neglect.

In Cold Blood

From here

“Witness to execution” on LJWorld.com: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/apr/05/witness_to_execution/

By Michael Bruntz - Special to the Journal-World. April 5, 2005

Charles McAtee's phone rang about 2 p.m.

It was April 13, 1965, and Truman Capote was calling to say he wouldn't be visiting condemned killers Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith on the eve of their executions.
Charles McAtee was director of the Kansas state penal institutions when Perry Smith and Richard Hickock were hanged in 1965. He had a close relationship with the men, trading letters with them.

Capote had spent the past four years documenting the brutal murders of a rural Kansas family and the lives of the killers for what would become the book "In Cold Blood." He said the emotional buildup to the execution would be too much to bear.
The next 10 hours would change McAtee's life. He would spend every minute with the killers, getting arare glimpse into their personalities in their most vulnerable moments -- scenes that never made it into Capote's book.

"I got to know them as human beings," McAtee said, "And I got to know them as people who committed an absolutely horrendous, horrific crime that killed four innocent, beautiful people who had a great deal to contribute to their community and this state."

McAtee's position as director of Kansas state penal institutions required him to be at the Kansas state penitentiary at Lansing the day of the executions. Capote's absence leaves him as one of few witnesses to the killers' final hours

For the past 40 years, McAtee's public identity has been defined by that moment in time. Rather than just lawyer Charles McAtee, he became the man who "oversaw the hangings of the Clutter family killers." But unlike many affiliated with the case who refuse to relive the past, McAtee, now 76, accepts that the case changed his life and made him a living link to history, an experience he feels obligated to share.


Charles McAtee has a photo of a painting of Jesus that Smith made while in the Kansas state penitentiary at Lansing. The prison chaplain, James Post, had the original painting of Jesus.

When he is asked to do so,

McAtee pulls out a white storage box inside his home near Topeka. Among the items are telegrams Capote sent while he was writing the book and postcards the author later sent from his winter home in Switzerland.

He also has photos of sea scenes Smith painted from Death Row on bed sheets with water colors and gave to prison chaplain James Post.
Each time he opens the box, memories flood back, memories not of characters in Capote's book, but of real people he came to know and experiences he had in the first half of the 1960s.


McAtee's position as a pardon and parole attorney and special assistant to the governor, and later director of penal institutions, allowed him to receive and send uncensored letters to the killers on Death Row.

From the spring of 1961 until their execution in April 1965, Hickock and Smith frequently wrote to him because he was one of the few people who saw their uncensored letters. Letters the killers wrote to the governor crossed McAtee's desk.
Charles McAtee has photos a painting of a sea scene that Smith made while in the Kansas state penitentiary at Lansing.

Once he became director of penal institutions in early 1965, the letters went directly to McAtee. The killers wrote together at first but then started sending individual letters. Hickock often denied that he'd killed the Clutters. Sometimes they just wrote to complain about the food.

McAtee said many of the letters are stored at the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka. One of the more memorable ones came just weeks before the executions.

The killers wrote to McAtee asking for radios in their cells. Although prison officials initially refused the request, McAtee OK'd transistor radios and headphones to help break the tension and isolation on Death Row.

"Their letters really hit me,"

McAtee said. "I couldn't live without music, and the thought occurred to me that these guys had been over there since the early '60s, and to have never heard music?"

McAtee was a casual acquaintance of one of Hickock's childhood friends, a common point of discussion when he saw Hickock on Death Row.

His memories of the afternoon before the executions include Hickock's visitors and what both killers talked about. The two men had very different demeanors in those final hours. Hickock was more jovial and talkative, telling stories about his childhood; Smith thought deeply about the meaning of life.
Hickock told of a 1949 Packard he and some friends covered with purple house paint. When they hit 60 mph on the highway, the paint started to peel off the car.

McAtee saw Hickock say goodbye to his ex-wife, who had come to pay her respects and apologize for a sharply worded letter she'd sent weeks before. Hickock told her to tell his children goodbye. After she left, McAtee said, Hickock was aware of the pain his crimes had caused.

"He said, 'Mr. McAtee, I should've had my neck broke long ago, before we pulled that caper out in Kansas for what I did to that woman and my kids,'" McAtee recalled Hickock as saying.

While Hickock was busy telling stories, Smith pondered life and death. He quoted several passages from Henry David Thoreau's "On Man and Nature" and showed signs of remorse that some said had never come from the convicted killer.

"Perry did say, 'Mr. McAtee, I would like to apologize to someone, but to whom? To them? To the relatives? To their friends and neighbors? To you? To the state of Kansas? But you know you can't undo what we did with an apology,'" McAtee recalled Smith saying.

Final hours of Smith, Hickock

McAtee's recollection of Smith -- as the more intelligent, sensitive killer -- mirrors Capote's descriptions of him in the book. Capote saw Hickock, though, as crude and uneducated, while McAtee said he developed a different view of Hickock because of their common acquaintance, Don Simons.

"I gained a better insight into Hickock than Capote did," McAtee said.

That Capote and McAtee held somewhat similar views of the killers should come as no surprise. They corresponded frequently while the case threaded its way through the courts.

McAtee first met Capote in 1961 as the author was trying to gain visitation and unfettered letter-writing privileges with Hickock and Smith -- rights usually reserved for family members and significant others, rights Capote eventually gained.

Although many have disputed the truth of some of Capote's book, McAtee said he thought Capote's version of the Clutter case closely mirrored the actual events. His insight made McAtee a popular public speaker about the book and case. Because he didn't know the family, he said, it's easier for him to talk about the case.

"It was a part of my life and part of my career," McAtee said. "It was just part of my official duties, and I became personally acquainted with (Smith and Hickock)."

After McAtee left his job with the Kansas Penal System in 1969, he became a successful attorney and in some ways is better known in Kansas for his work in the courtroom than the murder case.

For years he was associated with one of Kansas' oldest and most respected law firms, Eidson, Lewis, Porter & Haynes. In 2002, he ran an unsuccessful grassroots campaign for Kansas attorney general while also continuing to practice law.

McAtee was diagnosed with leukemia almost two years ago, and the disease and treatments have taken their toll. He has lost 62 pounds and undergone more than 40 blood transfusions.
"I'm still trying to practice law, though I don't make it to the office often," he said.

Although McAtee developed a rapport with the killers, he hasn't softened his stance on the death penalty.

He said he still supports capital punishment, though not in its current form. He said capital punishment isn't a deterrent to capital crimes and that standardizing the requirements for capital punishment would be a good first step to fixing the problem.

"They're standing around the penitentiary with their candlelight vigil, mourning the poor soul of the inmate, but they've forgotten the victim," McAtee said of death penalty opponents.
As he sits on a brown vinyl couch in his basement, he plays a DVD of a Feb. 26, 2003, ech he presented to the Downtown Topeka Rotary Club.

On the video he recalls his discussion with Smith on the day of the murders and the moment when Smith recited a poem he wrote called "Eternal Hope."
One of Smith's five original copies is scrawled on a frail paper wrapped in a plastic cover and stored in the white box with the newspaper clippings and memories.

"Perry Smith was a very bright guy and had a lot to offer; there was a lot of depth to Perry Smith," McAtee said. "You couldn't have talked to Perry, can't have heard Perry recite these excerpts of Thoreau 'On Man and Nature' or read Perry's poem, or look at his paintings without realizing there was some innate talent or ability and a depth of soul that he never really had an opportunity to work through."

The poem doesn't read like the prose of a man convicted of brutally murdering a family of four. Its lines are filled with the introspection of a man coming to terms with his imminent death -- each alternating rhyme written in perfect script on the yellowing page.

But he who thinks man is bare
Discarded of pride by force.
Has not the depth of soul to share
Emotions at its source
Perhaps my eyes shall never reach
The light of freedom's skies
But forever my hopes will span the breach
To keep my human ties.

"And with that," McAtee said, "an hour later, we took him to the Kansas gallows and hanged him."

Devil's Own Brigade

excerpt of Ballad Of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde:

I only knew what hunted thought
Quickened his step, and why
He looked upon the garish day

With such a wistful eye;
The man had killed the thing he loved
And so he had to die.

Yet each man kills the thing he loves
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!


Trooper Charles Wooldridge was hanged at Reading Gaol, while Oscar Wilde was an inmate there, on 7 July 1896, for having slashed his wife's throat in a fit of jealousy.
This was Oscar Wilde's final work, written after his release. He had served two years' hard labour for homosexual offences (homosexuality was illegal at the time), and he died in 1900.

As Wilde says: We were the Devil's Own Brigade.

Merry Executionmas

The Festive Holidays are generally a quiet time for places of execution but a finl jig on the gallows (or whatever) is not unheard of on or around Christmas and history shows us that death sentences have indeed been carried out while in most homes goose and wine is on the table. Afterall why should the wheels of Justice stop?
And here Execution island takes a look at some folk who have been opening caskets rather than gifts.

Nicolae Ceaușescu (Romanian Communist politician) and his wife Elena were executed by firing squad on Christmads Day in 1989.

"On Christmas Day, 25 December, the two were tried in a brief show trial and sentenced to death by a military court on charges ranging from illegal gathering of wealth to genocide, and were executed in Târgovişte.
A video of the trial shows that, after sentencing, they had their hands tied behind their backs and were led outside the building to be killed.

The Ceaușescus were killed by a firing squad consisting of elite paratroop regiment soldiers. The firing squad began shooting as soon as the two were in position against a wall. The firing happened too soon for the film crew covering the events to record."



In Great Britain a report in The Times dated Tuesday 31st July 1923 says that John William Eastwood (39) was charged with the murder of John Joseph Clark (48).
The hanging of John 'Jack' Eastwood on 28th of December 1923, was the last execution that was conducted by John Ellis.
The prison staff told reporters that Eastwood had to be "assisted to the scaffold." After the execution, Jack would have been buried within the confines of Armley Gaol.

Gallows Grotto

Gallows Pole

Father Christmas' grotto (filmed on 24th, November 2012) in Carmarthen near the spot the old gaol and gallows were. Viewers can also see Carmarthen Castle in the background too. I was particulaly happy the town band were there to provide the drum rolls because it gave it an authentic public execution 'sountrack'.

Check out the video:

A Cruel Necessity

Oliver Cromwell was the man who was the main mover behind the execution of Charles I as he believed that Charles would never change his ways and that he would continue to be a source of trouble until he died. Cromwell's signature is one of the easiest to make out on the death warrant of Charles - it is third on the list of signatures. It is said that a shadowy man was seen by guards who were guarding the dead body of Charles. He was heard to mutter "Twas a cruel necessity, twas a cruel necessity." Was this Cromwell? We shall never know.



@ Steven Francis 2011

Texas

"No, sir. I've never struggled with that at all. The state of Texas has a very thoughtful, a very clear process in place of which -- when someone commits the most heinous of crimes against our citizens, they get a fair hearing, they go through an appellate process, they go up to the Supreme Court of the United States, if that's required.

But in the state of Texas, if you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you're involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas, and that is, you will be executed."

Texas Governor Rick Perry

Walls Unit

Old Walls Unit

7:10p The lethal drugs took effect on George Rivas very quickly. He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m., 10 minutes after the injection began.

7:09p We've now received the full text of George Rivas' final statement:

First of all, for the Aubrey Hawkins family, I do apologize for everything that happened. Not because I am here, but for closure in your hearts. I really believe you deserve that.

To my wife, Cheri. I am so grateful you’re in my life. I love you so dearly.

Thank you to my sister and dear friend, Katherine Cox, my son and my family. Friends and family, I love you so dearly.

To my friends, all the guys on the row, you have my courtesy and respect.

Thank you to the people involved and the courtesy of the officers. I am grateful for everything in my life. To my wife, take care of yourself, I will be waiting for you. I love you, God bless.

I am ready to go.

7:07p Prior to his execution George Rivas told his new wife he loved her. "I am grateful for everything in my life. I love you. God bless. I am ready to go." Rivas was calm, smiling and appeared to be at peace with what was to follow.

6:31p Before being put to death, George Rivas said: "For Aubrey Hawkins' family, I apologized for everything that happened ... not because I'm here, but for closure in your hearts. I really believe you deserve that.

6:26p Texas 7 gang leader George Rivas was executed by lethal injection at 6:22 p.m. for the murder of Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins.

5:59p George Rivas will be strapped to a gurney, arms extended, and an IV for the lethal injection will be inserted in both arms. Once He's strapped down, the warden will call for witnesses to enter the two observation rooms.

5:58p Once witnesses are in place, guards will ask George Rivas if he wants to make a final statement. He said he did.

5:48p Guards move George Rivas from his holding cell, 15 feet to the execution chamber. The lethal injection procedure is scheduled to begin a few minutes after six o'clock.

5:22p One of George Rivas' four witnesses did not appear for his execution. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins will attend instead.

5:03p Three drugs are used in the lethal injection cocktail. That used to cost about $86, but the price has recently skyrocketed to more than $1,300 because the state has been forced to resort to a more expensive substitute for one of the drugs being used.

5:01p "I met with him a few minutes ago along with the warden and the chaplain, and Rivas stated that he's... all these years he's made it clear that he's ready to go," said Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. "He did say that he was going to make a last statement." Rivas is said to have made several personal calls from a phone provided by the prison, He asked five friends to witness his lethal injection.

4:50p More than 15 Irving police officers are standing outside the Walls Unit where George Rivas will soon be executed for killing Irving Officer Aubrey Hawkins on Christmas Eve 2000.

4:42p The widow of Irving police Officer Aubrey Hawkins, who was killed by George Rivas, will not attend the execution. She told News 8 that she felt no closure after being present at the last execution of a Texas 7 gang member in 2009.

4:40p George Rivas was served barbequeue chicken for his final meal, just like the other inmates at the Walls Unit.

4:30p George Rivas' appeals have all been denied. Clemency is denied. The state says attorneys for the convicted killer do not plan a last-minute challenge to the scheduled 6 o'clock execution.

3:49p Texas no longer offers a special "last meal" to condemned inmates. At 4 o'clock, George Rivas will get the same meal the rest of the unit gets today.

2:48p WFAA photojournalist Taylor Lumsden is following five Irving Police Department vehicles en route to Huntsville to witness the execution of George Rivas.

12:47p Arriving at the Walls Unit, George Rivas goes to a holding cell 15 feet away from the death chamber. He is alone and unrestrained and can use a phone.

12:45p George Rivas will be fingerprinted and given a new white uniform upon arriving at the Walls unit following lunch for his scheduled 6 o'clock execution.

11:50a Guards will soon move George Rivas from Death Row about 40 miles to the Walls Unit for a scheduled 6 p.m. execution.

11:45a George Rivas spent this morning meeting with friends behind glass at Texas Death Row.

Doubt's End

Before I begin I would like to make it perfectly clear that the following is not a 'death wish' or whatever it might sound to those of a feint heart. They are simply (or not so simple) more of my open ramblings on the final grace that is death. Taboo to most but that is a pebble for you to swallow. Continue...


Doubt's End

Without wishing to worry readers too much, or be too morbid (which is my natural playground), these last few days I have touched (again) the mortal walls of my being and a few times imagined I was about to collapse and check out at any second. As per usual they have occurred in the early hours of the morning, death's favoured domain. Blame lies soley on my diet and lifestyle of course but at 41 I have very little desire to alter it, begging for a few more years in exchange for lettuce leaves and quiet nights. But enough on that, this isn't the reason I decided to smash my fingers on the keyboard today and roll my bones (and they will fall wherever they please not matter how soft or hard I throw the dice.)
I only want to say again that I am at complete peace however near (or far) the End (capital E) might be. I am almost convinced I will not be seeing a grand old age and this is fine, I am at no panic over it. Not for I the running blindly like a headless spook, trying vainly to scupper the mechanics of death. That is not how I want this soul to leave its bloated and satisfied shell. Of course it is not an easy task giving up ones life, and lungs will not quit and fold away like obedient puppies but when it finally arrives I expect my body to surrended to death with as little struggle as humanly possible. Afterall it is no stranger to me. I have lived under the spectral hood for many years due to my destructive habits and I almost feel at home within walls of sickness.
Sometimes when I touch certain areas of my body, I can almost feel quiet pangs and tender spots as if I could almost poke a hole through my skin. Now I might be being slightly over dramatic here but when im in my gargoyle state and riding the sombre waves of deep night where even owls dare not go, it isn't dramatic at all. Its extremely real and at any moment I expect the human bands to snap and plunge my spirit into eternity. A curious feeling to be trapped between in limbe, and that is what it is because when I experience these moments I don't feel part of neither life or death. I am on a 'step', never knowing where the next breath will take me.
Little point in putting down the foamy glass and steak because I would feel this way if I was monk living on fruit, water and prayer. Fate cannot be avoided, it is not a knight to be side-stepped as its lance points to your beating chest like a falcon gunning for rabbit. Ones habits and addictions matter not in the great circus and its not the oils of excess which kill a man but lack of energy in the human spark that strikes off the raging flint. We are clockwork. Mechanical soldiers marching in a world that Gods have long since sacked and when I am alone in the wrath of darkness I can feel it all unravel within. My eyes dim like a tired soul, my jaw throbs from the weight of prophecy and thighs aflame from lacy, gothic thoughts.

Execution of Pietro Caruso

Execution of Pietro Caruso - Italian chief of fascist police. Distressing images. Pietro Caruso was the co-organiser of the massacre in Fosse Ardeatine in 1944. This clip shows brief bits from his trial followed by his grisly execution by a firing squad in some unknown location in Italy.

Dead Island

Sun cream, ice bucket, baseball bat & nails

If you were to try to imagine a paradise island you would probably come up with Banoi, the setting for Dead Island, a survival horror by Techland that im currently wading through on Playstation 3. With crisp, blue waters, golden beaches, luxury resorts and near endless sunshine, it is truly a bit of Heaven right here on earth. If only it wasn't for the zombies hellbent on turning it into...well hell.
Dead Island is brilliant! A FPS (first person shooter for non gamers) which pits you against hoardes of the undead, eager to strip you of your tasty fleeeesssh! This game has had its critics but they are wrong I tell thee. They were probably expecting another Call Of Duty or Grand Theft Auto and more fool them if that was the case. The game looks stunning (I often put down my machete and take in the views) and gameplay is pretty sweet also. I particularly love the ability to create vicious homemade weapons such as Nail'd baseball bats (do I really have to draw a picture?) and double bladed knives. Sure you can find firearms but these are not nearly as fun as lopping some undead saps head off with a scythe and watching it bounce down the road. That my friends is extremely satisfying and is why I usually leave the guns to mortals. I like up close and personal death dealing. (Or is that udeath dealing?)
Im not a mahoosive fan of FPS (eventhough ive played more than my share) and when Dead Island first surfaced I was kinda hoping it would be played in third person like Resident Evil because im one of those weird people who find third person view more immersive than first person, but im happy to report that it hasn't spoilt my fun. Techland have even remembered to include the characters feet which is swell as one thing that ruins realism in FPS for me is the fact the hero always seems to be legless (and not the good kind!)
The only grumble I have with Dead Island is that it has to load inbetween the main areas (resort, city and jungle.) Why is this? Seems strange when in bigger games like Just Cause 2 the player can drive from one end to the other of a huge map without a single sniff of a loading screen. But as im in a mellow mood (and the fact this is not a game review) I can forgive this little annoyance, especially when the rest is such bloody (literally) fun.


Excuse the slurring. Hic!

Mechanics Of Death

Cleve 'Sarge' Foster has shared his thoughts of going through the mechanics of facing execution in Texas - and living to talk about it.
The process shifts into high gear at noon on the scheduled execution day when a four-hour-long visit with friends or relatives ends at the Polunsky Unit outside Livingston.

"That last visit, that's the only thing that bothers me," he said. "The 12 o'clock-hour hits. A dozen or so guards come to escort you."

By Foster's count, it's 111 steps to the prison gate and an area known as the box cage. That's where he's secured to a chair for electronic scrutiny to detect whether he has any metal objects hidden on his body.

It's the legacy of inmate Ponchai Wilkerson. Wilkerson, asked by the warden if he had a final statement after he was strapped to the death chamber gurney for execution in 2000, defiantly spit out a handcuff key he'd concealed in his mouth.

"You're in handcuffs, you're chained at the ankles, they give you cloth shoes and you have to shuffle to keep them on," he said.

As he waddles the 111 steps, he gets acknowledgement from fellow prisoners who tap on the glass of their cells.

At the prison gate, armed officers stand by as he's put in a van and secured to a seat for the roughly 45-mile trip to Huntsville that he says feels like a "90-mph drive." There are no side windows in the back of the van where Foster, accompanied by four officers, rides to the oldest prison in Texas. Only the back doors have windows.

"It's like stepping back in time, dungeons and dragons," he said of entering through two gates at the back of the Huntsville Unit, more commonly known as the Walls Unit because of its 20-foot-high red brick walls.

Prison officials then hustle him into the cell area adjacent to the death chamber.

"Going inside, it's a little spooky. You can tell it's been there a while," he said. "Everything's polished, but still it's real old. You look down the row. History just screams at you.

"It's almost like `Hotel California,'" he said, referring to the song by The Eagles. "You can check out anytime, but you can't leave."

Both times he's been there, most recently last September, he's been treated "like a human being," Foster said. Officers look at him but don't smile, he said.

At one point, he saw someone walk by with a bulging envelope that he assumed contained the lethal injection drugs.

At 4 p.m., during his first trip to the death house in January 2011, he was served a final meal. He'd asked for several items, including chicken.

"It tasted so good," he said. "It actually had seasoning on it."

Two hours later, at the start of a six-hour window when his execution could be carried out, he received the Supreme Court reprieve.

Since then, inmates no longer get to make a final meal request. Procedures were changed after a state lawmaker complained that condemned inmates were taking advantage of the opportunity and that murder victims never get that chance.

Foster was looking forward to nachos and chicken, the same food served to other inmates the day last year that he made his second trip to the death house, but he never received it. Instead, his attorney tearfully brought him news of another Supreme Court reprieve just before dinner time.

He asked for a doggie bag but was refused. He was put back in the van and returned to death row.

"I've already told the chaplain: Take the phone off the hook before 4 o'clock," he said, anticipating his next trip Tuesday. "I want to get that last meal."



At 1:30pm you will be delivered to the Walls Unit.
You will go to a cell about 10 feet from the execution chamber.
You will get access to a telephone until around 3pm.
3pm ~ If you have a spiritual adviser, they go in an adjacent cell and talk to you. If you choose to opt out of the spiritual adviser ordeal, you can stay on the phone instead (until 5pm)
4pm ~ Final meal.
5pm ~ Prep time. One executed inmate described it like this: You sit, you wait, you try not to hope, and you finally come to terms with what is about to happen to you- you're going to die and there's nothing you can do about it. Once they find out that your last minute appeals have been denied, they ask if you're going to walk. If not, what they'll do is pick you up, strap you to a board and carry you to the gurney. You will be secured by straps and will have a shunt in your vein hooked up to a saline solution IV.
6pm ~ Warden will ask you about your last words. He says that if you become vulgar or spew profanities, he will push the button, this will signal to the executioner that he should start the execution.