It's kind of wrong to say Albert Pierrepoint did this or that with respect to hangings. Or that certain people died "by his hands". The fact is the death penalty is a communal decision, the executioner literally "executing" the will of the state.
+happyuk06 I agree. I don't support the death penalty in practice because of the chance of wrong convictions but the executioner is not the problem. Someone like Pierrepoint is only doing their job, it is the justice system as a whole that is to blame when a wrong conviction happens.
Those executed were fortunate to have someone with Pierrepoint's attention to detail and professionalism. It would have been all over in an instant unlike many of their victims.
The commentator is wrong when he said the police only came after the new tenants complained about smells coming from certain parts of the house at 10 Rillington Place. A tenant by the name of Beresford Brown was nailing up a shelf for a radio, Beresford peeled away some wallpaper and discovers the alcove - and the bodies. He alerted the police.
When. Harry. Allan was. The. Assistant Executioner to.Albert Pierrepoint. Of who he Learned proceedure Of hanging that did not having the prisoner to suffer no Excruciating pain in fact Harry. Allan. Became a copy of mr Albert. Pierrepoint right down to be an. Example right off the Block in. Almost every Detail. The only. Difference. Was. Allan Did not go and shake Hands with it was to be. Hanged. At eight o Clock. The next. Morning. It was another already a hangman to be. Assistant to. Harry Allan. This person who Assisted Allan was a Native from. Scotland Very. Little is known About. About. Harrys assistant other than Just an assistant but Was a qualified. Hangman. That meant There was no strain or Pressure on. Mr. H. Allan. It is recorded That. Harrys assistant Hanged. 4. Men who Had. Forced. The. Post master to. Hand over what ever was in The post register. It. Was the. Day that Elderly people got their. Pension the. Post master was shot and died of his just been. Shot at close Range also his wife Suffered injuries that Required. Hospital Attention. The. Person Who committed the The robbery was Eventually charged with. Robbery and caused the. Post Masters. To be subject To extreme.paiins after been shot for this Allans. Now also Having been. Made also to be. Chief hangman. Was given A letter. From the. Home office saying he was detailed to go to. Wales to. Hang to people who assisted in wales. To face Judgement for their Actions during a post Office being the victim Of a planned robbery In advance in all. There. Was. 4. To be Found guilty to be of assistance. And sentenced to death By hanging and their Bodies to be buried Within the. Prison Grounds
It is not the job of an executioner to determine guilt or innocence, that is for a jury. Once found guilty by a jury and condemned to death the job of the executioner is to execute. Don't blame the executioner for an innocent man being executed. The police, lawyers and jury are responsible for condemning an innocent to death.
Actually in the UK when the country had capital punishment it was the judge who decided the sentence, the juries only duty is to determine if the defendant is guilty or not guilty.
Albert Pierrepoint is my great uncle. I never knew about this specific case. I’ve heard very good things about Albert from my older family who were both raised with him and owned a pub with him. He had a sign above the bar that said “don’t hang around”. A good sense of humour but also, would explain the importance of a quick and calculated death for the worst of the worse. My grandma passed in 2023, but she always spoke very highly of him before she went.
help the poor struggler.... my dad drank in there in his younger years..... my dads off limeside, 7th ave i believe, he was born under his familys kitchen table, and so i heard these stories growing up!
+Giovani22 And everything done by the Germans during 1933-45 was legal in accordance with German law. Doesn't make them morally correct in their actions,does it?
***** American GI's who perpetrated the massacre at My Lai can think themselves damn lucky they weren't hanged for war crimes in the same way that Japanese and German soldiers were after the end of WW2. Most executioners in the UK ended up drunkards and often took their own lives. Killing human beings is something 99% of us would never, ever contemplate. And this is why more veterans have taken their own lives than died in combat after the 2003 Iraq War. It mattered not a jot to them whether some suit wearing geezer told them it was fine and dandy, deep down they knew it was wrong and struggled to come to terms with it. The politicians ought to pick up a gun or a baseball bat if they have an issue with another world leader and leave the rest of us the hell alone.
eslermanu47 Here I am and proud to...no need for a mask for me I would be very proud...and once in a while oops we killed the wrong Man that is just too bad...How come I have never been dragged in for Murder ? Or for that matter any of you ..Have you ever been accused of a Murder you did not comitt? And why is that you wonder? Maybe because where there is smoke there is fire. A loss by way of mistake...must happen every now and then and like I said..oops
eslermanu47 pierrepont to will see hellfire for his eveil deeds help conspire with bitch ass luciferin then he's going to wish to God he never entered that profession or existed for the matter...
I'm guessing that somebody else had your family brain cell when you wrote your comment. Next time somebody offers you a penny for your thoughts ...take the money.
A professional? I could hang 20 people in 20 minutes and have time to drink a cup of tea whilst doing it, all you need is a rope and a beam, if you drop them 6 foot 6" they won't complain afterwards.
The fastest time Pierrepoint took from entering the death cell, placing the hood on the condemned person, placing the noose around their neck, and pulling the lever, was 7 SECONDS, with James Inglis, 8 May 1951. None of this American style of having the condemned person waiting on the trap for what seemed an eternity whilst the executioner faffed around, and the sentence was read out, with Pierrepoint it was " WHAM, BAM, YOU'RE DEAD"
+Michael Bowman Albert Pierrpointe was a murderer. Just one example - Derick Bentley. If it wasn't for 'volunteers' innocent people would not have been hanged.
He enjoyed killing. He hung women also. That makes him a murderer. When you have the choice not to take a life and you choose to take a life time and time again well that makes him a murderer
the man is a gutless pig, reponsible for the murder of 400+ -pierrepont is a piece of shit - hopefully he is screaming in agony for infinity. Something very wrong wih the family since they produced so manny gutless murderers.
I disagree. He hangs Ruth Ellis and than writes letters to Ruth Ellis sister informed her that he visits Ruth's grave. In my opinion he got his kick's from doing so. That's how murderer's get their kick's. I'm going call him a killer because that's what he did for a living he killed people. Ok he had the law on his side. But he killed over and over again. He enjoyed killing. He visited Ruth Ellis grave many many times. Not because he felt guilt but because he got his kick's out of it. He enjoyed every minute of it.
He knew innocent people would be found guilty and put to death. For that reason he should not have carried out the executions. Yes its true if he had not then someone else would have done. But lets suppose I knew someone was going to murder someone. However, they gave me the option to do it instead. I have the attitude ''I might as well do it, because if I don't someone else will". Would that be OK? Would I be right? No I would be wrong. Obviously that would be illegal but that's the only difference. Just because the law says its not murder doesn't mean it isn't.
The death penalty gives a certain closure to the victims and their families. The prisoner spending a life time (living) in the constraint of a jail cell, continues to mock the victim by that very existence, even if in the jail cell. Charles Manson comes readily to mind, continuing to live long after the horrendous crime.
Steven Torrey Yes, but consider spending the rest of your life in a cell that is locked, 1 hour excercise, zero hope, only suicide to set you free. Death is easy, being locked away is a drip drip effect, institutionalised in a living hell.
It's not that clear cut. The Chicago Manual of Style recommends the distinction while Fowlers says they are interchangeable. For most of the history of the verb of hang they were interchangeable. Online Merriam Webster has a nice article on it. www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/hung-or-hanged
Thank you for the link - an interesting article. I don't completely agree with it; I believe, though have no evidence for this, that there are to verbs whose infinitive form is "to hang", which is where the distinction and confusion arises.
Also, many of you use the term "murder" incorrectly, when it's really a legal term for a premeditated illegal killing with malice. The prisoners he killed were ordered to be executed legally by the court, hence by definition, NOT a criminal act and NOT a murder. He did his job as quickly and as painlessly as he could within the parameters set by the court. If you disagree with the act, complain to the government who order it done. That is the way to bring about effective change.
So, by this logic, those condemned in, say, Saudi Arabia, found guilty of apostacy or adultery, for example, have not been murdered and the executions are not a criminal. Not an argument I can possibly agree with.
Constantly to repeat contrived footage of a hand _unhurriedly_ grasping a (presumed) trap release lever is most irritating. What was important about Albert was that he was _fast_.
Each of these pigs died quickly, humanely, and with benefit of a trial, unlike the millions of innocents they sadistically tortured and slaughtered. Pierrepoint is a hero for doing what needed to be done. It's not his fault these sadists finally faced their reckoning.
Timothy Evans? Derek Bentley? The Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four would have been added to the list if you had your way. God knows how many others.
I have an amazing book written by this man. It was actually bought way back in the 70's...I love reading interesting old paperbacks, i love the smell of the old book...Great
Its a pity Ruth Ellis's sister didnt take her nephew under her wing. That poor kid didnt stand a chance with her as his mother. Always at the bottom of her priorities. RIP David.
My dear old grandfather (long since gone) used to have a pub in his youth and was a friend of AP. Liked him very much. Once when he'd left the pub, just after a hanging, Grandad mentioned to my young dad that he would have to ask AP if he could bring in some of his hang rope - so that Grandad might fashion up some interesting ashtrays - and when my dad howled (with a smile of disbelief) 'you can't do that!!' - my Grandad shrugged his old English shoulders and said 'alright, alright - but they'd have been great talking points ....unique...'... That is supposed to be a true story... AP was a very, very nice chap. He did what he had to. Dealt with a lot of nastiness when someone had to get their hands dirty. Good man.
Ruth's sister saying he should've been hanged too but he was just doing his job... and if I was an executioner I would never make eye contact with the person cuz I'd forever have that person's soul on my conscience.. don't know how the hell he switched that off...😞
Pierrepoint had a clear conscience and enjoyed a decent night's sleep at the end of the day. Don't see any dark circles or bags under his eyes (4:15 - 4:35). He wasn't a torturer. The measured long drop which he and others used ensured a very quick death. Judicial mistakes were made resulting in the execution of a few innocents; but today we have DNA forensic corroboration. I'd welcome the return of the hangman if capital punishment would only be meted out in circumstances where the murderer is caught at the scene or DNA testing proves his/her guilt.
True, but if a convicted murderer's DNA is on the victim e.g. skin under the fingernails, blood smears etc.or is inside the victim eg. saliva, semen, it adds considerable weight to a just conviction, especially if there is also motive, opportunity, and witnesses who place the accused at the scene of the crime. If there's not irrefutable proof, then it's wrong to convict. We need to remember that no guilty person ever gets away with his/her crime(s). There's a higher court of judgment that we all have to face once we leave this world. Justice is always served -- either in this life or in the one to come.
R. Crompton I think it's better to be safe than sorry, for one I don't trust the police going on past false convictions. At least if someone has been incarcerated wrongly the state can release them and compensate them but if someone has hung that's final. But life should mean life with no chance of parole.
Agree, it's better to be safe than sorry; but where guilt is PROVED, quite apart from what the police attempt to do, justice should be carried out. As a Bible-believing Christian, I note that there are only three prescribed punishments instituted by God's command 1. restitution (double or four-fold, depending on the seriousness of the offense) 2. banishment (being cut off from the nation) 3. capital punishment -- for a host of serious crimes against man and God. Please note that imprisonment is not an option under biblical law.
R. Crompton I think in the 21st century biblical punishment has to be separated from judicial punishment, The U.K doesn't have blasphemy laws now and even treason is no longer a capitol crime.
the office of an executioner demands complete an utter DISSOCIATION. Pierrepoint must have been able to enter such a state of being-and of separation, as mind over matter. thank you for this fine documentary-it had me entranced!
Between 1964 when executions were stopped, and 2011, 49 people were wrongly convicted of murder, men and women, and subsequently exonerated, in the UK. That would be unacceptable for 49 people to have been wrongly executed. Also that would mean that in some cases the guilty people would have got off scott-free as the case would have been closed after the innocent people were executed.
Would you also like to see the resumption of hanging innocent people? I fully agree with Simon below, with his figures on the innocently condemned. Between 1898 and 1997, the figures for murder remained fairly steady, apart from spikes upwards during 1942 and 1945. But the cases of murder shot up once into the 1960s. If we accept that executions were generally for murder - then it has clearly FAILED, as a deterrent. Hasn't it? I also agree with Joe [below], that the Birmingham six and Guilford four would have been executed, though proven innocent. In the movie- 'In The Name Of My Father', an IRA bomber was ignored when he told Police they had innocent men in jail for Guilford. In addition, Tim Evens and Derek Bentley were also hung, yet known to be innocent. The list goes on. Surly it's better that we pay to keep murders in jail for life, then to execute one more innocent person.
@@jimfraser734 Pardoned? the policeman must have shot himself then lolo. BOTH the tossers should have hanged. THEY took the gun to the crimescene knowing full well the police would normally be unarmed.How many more people might have got shot tf they'd got away with this one?...how many times had they taken a gun/knife before?.THEY WERE BOTH GUILTY, FCK THE POSTHUMOUSLY PARDENED CRAP......GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY...HANG HANG HANG Have a nice day jim.
All of the people he hung were found guilty by a jury. He wasn't a pervert. Question to all. Have you not thought that a person should die because of a crime that they committed? Pedophiles, rapists, Child killers. They get sent to prison where they are looked after. Twenty four hour body guards. food and drink on demand. I work for a living and pay for the idiots who milk my taxes. Thoughts please.
Hi kelly6793. Many thanks for your comments and to Splinterbyrd. Again thank you. To my mind, the likes of Ian Brady and his like got off easily. In a mental institution like Rampton or the like. A high security institution for the criminally insane. Don't know what you believe but these places are not run by the prison service, they are run by the N.H.S., where they are patients rather than killers. Again, many thanks for your comments. Lets keep the discussion going.
Bryan Carr And we should bring back hanging for anyone man or women who is a known terrorists.If they are willing to kill and mane in their hundreds then no mercy should be shown to these ppl.
I agree in principle if not anything else. We, as individuals can't do anything about this. I agree with bring back hanging, without any doubt. Keep the conversation going.
Hanging should be restored as the means of capital Justice. Lethal injection is how we put our beloved pets to sleep. Hanging connotes a shame that is appropriate for murderers.
Albert Pierrepoint was acting on the decision of judges who met out the punishment of death to convicted men and women. He is no way responsible, it was the judges. If a country has the death sentence, then who do you think has to carry it out?? Of course it has to be a human, and Albert was one of them. The decision of death lies with the judge, and he had to carry it out. He does not have blood on his hands. Completely different.
Hung one of his,customers from his pub, Apart from.Bentley and Ellis, probably one of the hardest of his career. Even showed respect to the Nazis he hung, a consummate professional. !
At the end of his life, Pierrepoint regretted his hangings, saying that capital punishment solved nothing. Derek Bentley received a posthumous pardon. Like Timothy Evans, Derek Bentley had learning difficulties.
True... but then he went on BBC Radio in the 1970s and said 'I honestly believed that at the time I wrote it, but things have changed', and followed it up with a rather grim 'I could go again' when describing child murders.
If only more people thought like this! People opposed to execution have not seen lives shattered, ruined, distroyed, and finally ended by suicide - ALL because of paedophiles.
This should be brought back. All sex offenders, murders that can be proven beyond doubt and traitors I. e treason. It would save an awful lot of money. Look how much it costs to keep a lifer. Plus sex offenders don't get long enough and most often do it again.
the last UK hangman? berk. And by the way Blakely wasn't drinking in the pub with friends, he called in to buy some beer. The 'bullet holes ' are also faked much later as he was actually shot over the road from the pub. Finally, hanging wasn't used as a deterrent, it was used as a punishment
Pierrepoint's only relationship with the condemned was as the executioner. He had no personal relationship with the condemned. It was the Court that ordered the death penalty. The morality of the death penalty as just or unjust wasn't up to Pierrepoint.
You cannot blame the Hangman for the death of the Innocent, that blame sits wholly with the court, if a person was found guilty by means of circumstantial evidence then he or she should have been given a life sentence instead of the death penalty. But the chances of the innocent being wrongly convicted are still the same today as in days gone by. The Hangman was part of the system, nothing more.
Alberts book is well worth the read. He was a good man who had true empathy, he cared very much for the condemned, that they had the least added trauma, very fast. If you can get the book please do. Crazy that a person can have empathy yet be executioner, so many people i know have none at all, and other than the dictionary definition, don't even know what it is.
Albert was not the "Last Hangman" - it went on for several years after he retired - The Last was in Nov 1964 - two separate executions at two different jails at the same time.
+slap777 Of course there's such thing as premeditated murder. If I said I was going to come around to your house tomorrow and murder you, that's the definition of premeditated. You're spot on about about hung and hanged though.
UK never had an "official executioner". The Home Office provided the Sheriff with a list of approved hangman. Pierrepoint was on that list, but never singularly.
i have often read before that Pierrepoint felt remorse for hanging Ruth Ellis and had spoke about her being the bravest woman he had ever met But didnt he ever have any remorse for hanging Timothy Evans when it turned out that he was an innocent man
will taylor that's absolutely true, if she hadn't been attractive the papers wouldn't have had such a field day. It's a sad reflection on society, but you see the same patterns in today's media.
+Doglover Ruth Ellis laid in wait for her boyfriend then unloaded a revolver as soon as he arrived. She even walked up to him and unloaded the last 4 shots point blank. Does anything about those actions sound brave to you? We can never know for sure how he felt about every hanging, but he spoke out against the Death Penalty after retiring calling it nothing more than revenge. So he must have had some remorse about the whole thing.
Darby Crash That is not what i meant He had said when her time had come she had excepted her fate and had even smiled at him when he put the noose around her neck,she knew what she had done was wrong Thats what he meant by calling her brave
I've just watched the first three or so minutes. I've read Pierrepont's autobiography. Who cares whether he was dapper or wore a trilby or not. I'm sympathetic to Pierrepont as functionary, but you do have to be a particular kind of person in a free society to kill someone legally, not as a soldier, or a policeman, but in a cold calculated way in the penal system.
You nailed it. It requires even measures of faith and rationalization to do Pierrepoint's "job." He wasn't actually killing anyone; the state was doing the killing. His religion convinced him that capital punishment was just. He was just an instrument as the rope, scaffold and hood were instruments. Learning he had hanged an innocent person bothered Pierrepoint not in the least, since he was not responsible for any of it.
Albert Pierrepoint was a very professional executioner, and it was always the Judge and Jury that sent anyone to the gallows, he was just the final cog in the penal machine.
He may have been, but who'd take the job in the first place? Any way, his views on capital punishment turned against it by the time he wrote his autobiography.
My dad was a bell hanger fir the Whitechapel bell foundry in London, that is he installed church bells. Sometime during the 1960s he got the job of installing a bell in the entrance of the chamber of horrors at Madame Tassuads. In London. The bell was originally at Newgate prison abd was tolled before executions. I never ever found out where the bell was before being installed between Newgate and Madame Tussauds
franko smith your not exactlycthe epitome of intelligence are you. In fact in your case the word imbecile comes to mind. Unless you have something intelligent to say which is beyond your IQ then dont.comment. So stop playing withyour self
+franko smith Um, those who somehow fail to learn from History are sure to repeat the "Mistakes" and "Ax-dents" duly recorded therein. So turn to and catch up, won't you, Beloved? 'Nuff said! And that is all. 0{:-\o[
At the end of his life, Albert Pierrepoint said that the death penalty achieved nothing. John Ellis, who hanged Crippen, later took his own life because he was traumatised by the hanging of poor, innocent Edith Thompson, the details of which are too gruesome to mention here.
+Jack Black That's correct. As Craig, Bentley's co-defendent, testified at the trial (in spite of its harming his own defense), Bentley never once used the words _Let him have it, Chris_. Tests have subsequently demonstrated that, even if he had, some police officers who testified to having heard them could not possibly have done so. Moreover, Bentley was not even in the habit of calling Craig by his given forename, Chris. He was very poorly served by his defense counsel in this matter.
+Jack Sainthill At the end of the day, Bentley was in police custody at the moment of the actual shooting. HE WAS 100% INNOCENT OF THE CRIME FOR WHICH HE WAS HANGED. But someone had to be punished & he made an easy target
+liam whitcombe Derek Bentley was innocent of killing PC Miles. Seems a .38 bullet killed Miles. Bentley had a .45. This is what they say nowadays. The police made the "let him have it" words up to make sure of a conviction. Murdering cops again. Most are dead themselves now.
The fact that by his own admission he could execute someone and then go home and' forget about it' suggests psychopath. There is absolutely no way I could something like that and then just carry on as if nothing had happened.
This is how ppl get others to carry out crazy things.find a phyco and get them to do it.exactly what Hitler done in the war.hitler even released murders to the army to do clean ups in the villages the main army left behind.these released ppls jobs where to make sure no one was left aluve in the villages and towns.i forget the name of that unit.
A compassionate executioner (methodology strictly is hanging) who perfected the art of making the condemned as comfortable as possible before fitting him (or her) with a proper necktie for the occasion.
Morten Andersen as a matter of fact, statistically our crime is WAY down since the mid 80s, our gov actually started to lock up criminals. The U.S. has always had high crime rates from irresponsible people. and it gets worse when we have irresponsible leaders unwilling to make tough decisions.
you only have to look to america to demonstrate that the death penalty serves no purpose what so ever, it doesn't stop people getting murdered . And keeping someone on death row for 20 0dd years before executing them is dreadful, Its about time they stopped it ,
Albert Pierrepoint died on this day 10-Jul-1992 aged 87 - on the very same day the last death sentence was passed in these islands - on the Isle of Man - Anthony Teare who had been found guilty of murder .... Matthew:)
Hanging was probably too good for them as death is instant and painless, however a long prison sentence means the condemned are punished every second of every day. And in to worst cases until they draw their last breadth.
To be perfectly honest with you, I AM EXTREMELY GLAD that the American executioner botched the job and those things died in pain!!!!!!!!!! The only problem is, the things died FAR, FAR, FAR TOO QUICKLY AND did NOT suffer ANYTHING LIKE ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!! But then, ANY amount of suffering and pain those things were caused, would NEVER BE ANYTHING LIKE ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The correct figure for Albert Pierrepoint's executions is 433 - which includes 16 females - he also observed at one execution before actually participating in an execution .... Matthew:)
Prominent among whom was Prescott Bush, the founder of the (Prez) Bush family fortune. [Read "money laundering" for the older term "clearing house"] Per Wikipedia: Prescott Bush was a founding member and one of seven directors (including W. Averell Harriman) of the Union Banking Corporation (holding a single share out of 4,000 as a director), an investment bank that operated as a clearing house for many assets and enterprises held by German steel magnate Fritz Thyssen.[6][7] In July 1942, the bank was suspected of holding gold on behalf of Nazi leaders.[8]A subsequent government investigation disproved those allegations but confirmed the Thyssens' control, and in October 1942 the United States seized the bank under the Trading with the Enemy Act and held the assets for the duration of World War II.[6] Journalist Duncan Campbell pointed out documents showing that Prescott Bush was a director and shareholder of a number of companies involved with Thyssen.[6]
Most (sane) executioners do feel partially bad in a human sense. Some just get good at keeping those emotions buried inside! Before you condemn this man, think of the killers (the victims of the killers who he executed) and the pain and terror they endured.
+equarg there is no sane executer. think also about the pain and terror he puts on the killers famely. what have they done to deserve this. think a mother waiting for her son to be killed. or children waiting for a sister, brother, or parent to get executed. Also know that this man have hunged at least one man who later were declaird absolut innocent, and it did not touch him at all. do you call that sane?
Erling Andersen No offense...but if a family member was convicted of being a serial killer (beyond doubt like the Spokane Serial Killer, which killed while I lived there) I would not shed one tear.....and be glad he is gone! Same if a family member harmed/ sexually assaulted children! I also have no pity for rapists either!
You weren't there, you can not tell. I presume that I would feel a loss if a member of my close family would be sentenced either to death or to a serious prison sentence. If someone treat you with love and care, nothing can entirely erase that...
3:00 in Australia and New Zealand it was actually common practice for the hangman to set up every thing, check it and remove the body, even placing the noose around the neck of the condemned but the actual execution itself would be carried out by an inmate, usually one in for life and the inmate would be restrained, the hangman would release the safety block for the inmate to pull the lever
He was willing to come out of retirement many, many times. His radio interview with the BBC in 1976, for one example. However, a rather-convenient narrative has been formed now that Albert Pierrepoint 'turned against capital punishment'. Nothing could be further from the truth. He wrote a sensational ending to an autobiography to garner attention and help sell it, but he did not believe a word.
Capital punishment was state sanctioned. It was supported by the population. Pierrepoint exercised the remit of the state and its people and has no case to answer against him. He eas clearly effective in his role.
He was never THE Official Executioner - he was AN Official Executioner, there were 2 Home Office lists of (a) Official ExecutionerS and (b) Official Assistant ExecutionerS. And he was not the last Official Excutioner - there were still 2 other Official Executioners on the list when Pierrepoint resigned.
Needless to say he was a celebratey and was often invited to the houses of the rich for the weekend. My mother was head housemaid in one of these houses and met him
No such thing as "the official executioner" during Pierrepoint's time. There was an official list of men qualified to be hangmen, whether executioner or assistant.
completely unfair to william calcraft,he was only continuing the current version of hanging,he couldnt know about something that hadnt yet been invented,irish doctors in the late 19th century developed the idea through trial and error
Quite frankly I think Pierrepoint would have been too good for those sentenced in Nurenberg. One reason I don't support death penalty is because to some it is too quick. But seen as instead of wasting away in prison for the rest of their lives at least they got botched executions. No wonder Göring took the coward's way out and committed suicide. And I don't automatically think suicide is cowardly but in his case it was clearly a matter of not wanting to face consequences.
You walk in the condemn cell and look at the person. Then shortly after you end his life. How can you wipe away the face you saw prior to ending his life ?
