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AN EXECUTION BUNGLED.

A MjftN HANGED TWICE. The execution ,in the Chicago county gaol recently of Geo. H. Painter for the murder of his mistress, Alice Martin, was attended by a horrible scene. When the trap was sprung the rope snapped in two, and the unfortunate man, who weighed over 2001b, dropped eight feeb to the atone floor of the corridor. His head struck heavily as he fell, and the blood pushed fram his ears and nostrils. He was picked up unconscious, laid on the drop in an-incumbent position, and another noose adjusted. The drop fell a second time without further accident. Painter protested his innocence up to the time , when the cap was placed over his head. One of the attendant physicians expressed the opinion thab he was already dead when the drop was sprung the second time. Seventy-five persons, half of whom were representatives of the press, witnessed the execution. Painter was a fine-looking man, and a murmur of sympathy went up from the crowd as he came into view. His nerve was wonderful. He walked unsupported to the centre of the trap and nodded to a newspaper man whom ho recognised. HIS LAST WORDS. Looking straight ab those before him, he paused for a moment, and then in a halfhesibating manner, his tones growing firmer and more emphatic as he proceeded, he commenced :—" Gentlemen, I see some friends here. Oh, God forgive them. No friend of mine would come to see me die. Ib hurts me. Gentlemen, if you're gentlemen' 7 a pause—" there are few gentlemen that would look at an execution— The brotherhood of humanity has taught lots of men better than this. There was a time when in India men sought death, thinking ib an advance in the future state. To-day I fear death. Ido nob want to die." For a moment the • condemned man paused, as though his voice had failed hiim His auditors were breathless. The dropping of a pin would have echoed ' through the long, gloomy corridor. Then, suddenly gathering strength, and with oven more earnestness and vigour than he had manifested a moment before, Painter proceeded:— " Listen, listen to this. If I killed Alice Martin, my wife, although in court—" Here Painter again seemed as if he was about to break down. "If I killed Alice Martin, the woman I loved, I pray this minute, this minute on earth, thab the eternal God will take me and pub me in eternal hell, that he will keep me there eternally. If there is one man in this audience thab is an American—an American citizen—on your soui, I say on your soul, see that tho murderer of Alice Martin is found." The condemned man ceased. The officers approaohed toadjust thewhitecap. Another thought occurred to the condemned. "Gents," he said again, "I see a hundred of my (it was difficult to determine whether the next word was oppressors) here; bub few Americans." Then the cap was drawn over his face and the noose tightened. A SHOCKING SiOHv. Just as Painter had uttered his last words the signal was given and thb trap was sprung. As the body descended there was a sharp crack. The rope had snapped in the centre, between the iron eye in the crossbeam and the noose. With a crash the body fell upon the stone pavement, eight feet below. As it fell it half turned from its previous perpendicular position, and the head struck the ground with tremendous force. In a second the white cap was saturated with blood, and a cry or horror went up from the spectators. The majority rose to their feet. A few were paralysed and unable to stir. " Sit down cried tho bailiffs, as they emphasised the order by pushing the spectators back into their seats. A dozen men rushed to tho foot of the scaffold and picked up the unconscious man. The blood was dropping from the back of the head and running in a dozen rivulets down the white shroud. Four deputy sheriffs took the head ana shoulders, and as many moro tho feet, ana the inanimate form was carried around the corner, up the steps, and laid on the scaifold. Some intimation of what had happened must have reached the prisoners on the other side of tho gaol, a few yards distant, for at this moment there was a succession of unearthly yells and shouts,and a rattling of iron doors, as though the entire prison colony had broken loose. Some of the spectators jumped to their feet in alarm, but the stentorian voices of the guards, again ordered them to keep their seats. Meanwhile the drop had been hastily readjusted, and another rope and noose prepared, The still unconscious man was halt carried, half dragged, to the centre of tnc trap. The deputy Sheriffs were successful in keeping tho body in a heap while thu noose was being adjusted, but as soon a* they withdrew it fell back into a recumbent position. Thero was a hurried consultation, and then the body was stretcheci out on the trap door, with the limbs frocc. the knees overhanging the edge. HONS A SECOND TIMK. The trap was again sprung, and the body went into midair. This time the rope held its own, although the noose slipped behind the ear and close upon the chin, and ib seemed for a moment as though the head would pass through. A doctor sprang to the side of the swinging body and seized the left wrist. As ho did so he made the remark, " I believe he was dead when ho was carried upon the scaffold." The drop fell the second time. As the body swung around the blood continued to pour out of the ear, until nob a vestige of white remained about the cap or upper robe. This sight sickened many of the spectators. Shortly after the body of Painter wa3 removed to the undertaking rooms of Wells-street a largo crowd gathered in front of the place, and a detail of police was senb for to preserve order. The body was embalmed and placed in a new silvermounted rosewood coffin. The dead man's brother Jasper visited the establishment during the afternoon, and at his request the doors were opened and the curious crowd admitted. Tho face of the dead man was much swollen and purple.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18940421.2.62.16

Bibliographic details

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9491, 21 April 1894, Page 2 (Supplement)

Word Count
1,059

AN EXECUTION BUNGLED. New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9491, 21 April 1894, Page 2 (Supplement)

AN EXECUTION BUNGLED. New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9491, 21 April 1894, Page 2 (Supplement)