How does lethal gas work

In Indiana in , it took 17 minutes — and five cycles of current — to kill William Vandiver, who murdered and dismembered his father-in-law.

In , Louisiana teenager Willie Francis survived his first electrocution only to be put to death a year later. Three inmates have died by hanging since the U. Supreme Court brought back the death penalty. The last, Delaware double murderer Billy Bailey, chose the gallows over lethal injection in and was pronounced dead 11 minutes after he plunged through a trapdoor with a noose around his neck.

The gas chamber was used in only 11 executions between and , largely because the deaths by cynanide were protracted and in some cases disturbing to watch. The last inmate to go this way, Walter LaGrand, chose it over lethal injection and choked and gagged for several minutes until he was pronounced dead 18 minutes after the poison pellets were dropped into acid, according to media witnesses in the Arizona prison.

In , Mississippi officials claimed child rapist and killer Jimmy Lee Gray died two minutes after the gas started, but witnesses said he was still alive — moaning and banging his head against a pipe — when the viewing room was cleared eight minutes into the execution. The length of lethal injections can vary widely due to the chemicals used, the physiology of the inmate and other complications.

In cases where a short-acting barbiturate is followed by a paralytic and a heart-stopper, inmates have been rendered unconscious in seconds and pronounced dead in as little as five minutes. Oswiecim: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia.

View the list of all donors. Trending keywords:. Featured Content. Tags Find topics of interest and explore encyclopedia content related to those topics. Browse A-Z Find articles, photos, maps, films, and more listed alphabetically. For Teachers Recommended resources and topics if you have limited time to teach about the Holocaust. Wise — International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. About This Site. Glossary : Full Glossary. Gassing Operations The Nazis killed millions of people in gas vans or in stationary gas chambers.

Key Facts. More information about this image. Euthanasia Program A Nazi euphemism, "euthanasia" referred to the systematic killing of those Germans whom the Nazis deemed "unworthy of life" because of mental illness or physical disability. Gas Vans After the June German invasion of the Soviet Union and Einsatzgruppe mass shootings of civilians, the Nazis experimented with gas vans for mass killing.

Killing Centers Chelmno In , the SS concluded that the deportation of Jews to killing centers to be gassed was the most efficient way of achieving the " Final Solution. Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka In , systematic mass killing in stationary gas chambers began at Belzec , Sobibor , and Treblinka , all in German-occupied Poland.

Auschwitz The Nazis constantly searched for more efficient means of extermination. Media Essay Gassing Operations - Photograph. Long tubes connect the needle through a hole in a cement block wall to several intravenous drips. The first is a harmless saline solution that is started immediately. Then, the inmate is injected with sodium thiopental - an anesthetic, which puts the inmate to sleep. Finally, the flow of potassium chloride stops the heart. Death results from anesthetic overdose and respiratory and cardiac arrest while the condemned person is unconscious.

However, a doctor will certify the inmate is dead. This lack of medical participation can be problematic because often injections are performed by inexperienced technicians or orderlies. If a member of the execution team injects the drugs into a muscle instead of a vein, or if the needle becomes clogged, extreme pain can result. Many prisoners have damaged veins resulting from intravenous drug use and it is sometimes difficult to find a usable vein, resulting in long delays while the inmate remains strapped to the gurney.

Seeking a more humane method of execution than hanging, New York built the first electric chair in and executed William Kemmler in Soon, other states adopted this execution method. Today, electrocution is not used as the sole method of execution in any state. Electrocution was the sole method in Nebraska until the State Supreme Court ruled the method unconstitutional in February For execution by the electric chair, the person is usually shaved and strapped to a chair with belts that cross his chest, groin, legs, and arms.

A metal skullcap-shaped electrode is attached to the scalp and forehead over a sponge moistened with saline. The sponge must not be too wet or the saline short-circuits the electric current, and not too dry, as it would then have a very high resistance. The prisoner is then blindfolded.

A jolt of between and volts, which lasts for about 30 seconds, is given. The current surges and is then turned off, at which time the body is seen to relax. If it is, another jolt is applied. This process continues until the prisoner is dead. The tissues swell. Defecation occurs. Steam or smoke rises and there is a smell of burning. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan once offered the following description of an execution by electric chair:.