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An execution is not supposed to be torture. Capital punishment is death, and throughout history, there have been many methods employed to achieve this. Sometimes, however, executions do not go as planned, often ending in the prolonged suffering of their victims.
From miscalculated hangings to electric chairs gone haywire, in this gallery you'll get to learn about some of history's most infamous botched executions. Click on for more.
Thomas Cromwell was sentenced to death by King Henry VIII, for whom he worked as chief minister. According to records, it took several blows to decapitate him. July 28, 1540 marks the day.
Back in 1541 in the Tower of London, not only did Margaret Pole make her executioner's life hard by refusing to lay her head down to be axed, but it reportedly took a whopping 11 blows to finish the job.
In 1587, three axe blows was how much it took for Mary, Queen of Scots' head to become detached from her body. The first blow reportedly hit the back of her head, the second one killed her, and only with a third blow was the decapitation complete.
In 1683, Lord Russell was decapitated at the hands of the infamous English executioner Jack Ketch. It was not a clean job, as it took a few blows to complete the beheading.
The Duke of Monmouth was also executed by Jack Ketch, who reportedly took five to eight blows to finish the job, this in 1685.
In 1746, three blows was how much it took to decapitate the Scottish nobleman and Jacobite.
Damiens was sentenced to death by dismemberment after attempting to assassinate King Louis XV of France. However, his limbs could not be torn off while being pulled by horses, so they were cut instead. He died on March 28, 1757.
The officer of the Confederate States Army was sentenced to death by hanging, but his neck failed to break and he died a slow death by strangulation.
Pictured: Henry Wirz being read his death sentence before his execution in Washington on November 10, 1865.
American William Kemmler was the first person in the world to be executed via the electric chair. He was given the capital punishment after murdering his wife.
William Kemmler was executed on August 6, 1890, but things didn't go as planned. It took two attempts, and a total of eight minutes to kill him, resulting in his blood vessels rupturing, causing bleeding. Pictured is the chair used in Kemmler's execution.
The American outlaw was sentenced to hanging following an attempted train robbery. When the fateful day came in 1901, the rope was so long that he was decapitated by it.
Williams was the last person to be executed in Minnesota, in 1906. But there was a miscalculation on the rope length, and Williams hit the floor when he fell through the trap door of the gallows. Then three men pulled the rope. It took 14 minutes for Williams to eventually die of strangulation.
The Mexican soldier, also known as El Fusilado ("The Shot One" or "The Executed"), actually survived an execution in 1915 by firing squad. Moguel was reportedly shot eight to nine times in the body before receiving one shot to the head. All of which he survived. He lived until around the age of 86, passing away in 1976.
The infamous Canadian serial killer was executed on October 2, 1930 in California. But the rope used during his hanging was too slack, resulting in Northcott dying from strangulation after 13 minutes.
Francis was supposed to be executed by electric chair on May 3, 1946, except he survived. The officer in charge was intoxicated and failed to set up the chair properly and deliver the correct current to kill Francis. Francis eventually returned to the electric chair on May 9, 1947, and this time the deed was done right.
A miscalculation in Arthur Lucas' weight nearly got him decapitated. Pictured is Don Jail's death row, in Toronto, where Lucas spent some time. He died on December 11, 1962, and was one of the last two people to be executed in Canada.
Frank Joseph Coppola was the first inmate executed in Virginia since the capital punishment was reinstituted in 1976. Pictured is the electric chair used at Virginia State Penitentiary, which caused Coppola's head and leg to burst into flames during his execution in 1982.
It took two rounds of gunfire for a firing squad to execute a Thai woman in 1979. Lorsoungnern first survived a round of 10 shorts, after which she was taken to the morgue, only to surprise the authorities by trying to stand up. Ginggaew Lorsoungnern was eventually executed by firing squad, this time successfully.
For his part, Evans was the first inmate to be executed in Alabama after the US reinstituted the death penalty in 1976. It took three jolts to kill him in the electric chair, a process that took 24 minutes to complete. He died on April 22, 1983.
Jimmy Lee Gray was executed by gas chamber in 1983 at Mississippi State Penitentiary. Gray died a slow death, moaning and banging his head against a steel pole in agony. The whole process took eighth minutes.
Tafero was executed in 1990 in Florida, but the electric chair malfunctioned, causing flames to burst out of his head. Seven minutes and three jolts of electricity later, Jesse Tafero was dead.
Medina's 1997 Florida execution was also botched, causing smoke to fill the room after his head burst into flames.
In 1999, Allen Lee Davis became the last inmate executed by electric chair in Florida. He bled profusely from his nose during electrocution.
In 2006, it took a total of 34 minutes and a second dose of lethal drugs to execute Díaz, in yet another case of a botched Florida execution attempt.
Saddam Hussein's half-brother and former leader of the Iraqi intelligence service Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti was sentenced to hanging in 2007. But miscalculations about the rope and his body weight led to him being decapitated.
It was not easy to execute Doyle Lee Hamm in 2018. In fact, the execution failed. This was after 2.5. hours of of trying to find a suitable vein in his body to administer a lethal injection. Hamm died of cancer in a Alabama prison in 2021.
Sources: (Listverse) (History) (Death Penalty Information Center) (The Mirror)
See also: Mysterious disappearances of famous figures whose bodies were never found
Times in history when executions failed
From failed beheadings to malfunctioning electric chairs
LIFESTYLE Capital punishment
An execution is not supposed to be torture. Capital punishment is death, and throughout history, there have been many methods employed to achieve this. Sometimes, however, executions do not go as planned, often ending in the prolonged suffering of their victims.
From miscalculated hangings to electric chairs gone haywire, in this gallery you'll get to learn about some of history's most infamous botched executions. Click on for more.