Killers/The Killers.adf/Files/aftermath.txt/aftermath.txt

Text File | 1995-07-06 | 5.3 KB | 125 lines

P1Aftermath.P7

P7The death cell at Wandsworth prison in London was John
George Haigh's final address. In the days of capital punish-
ment, all prisons had a death cell to which the prisoner
would be sent as soon as he had been sentenced to death. At
this point, Haigh would no longer be allowed to wear his own
clothes. He would have worn a suit of sackcloth material, a
shirt and soft slippers. No belts or ties were allowed.P7

P7The cell was part of the main prison block, although its
occupant was entirely segregated from other prison activi-
ties. The prisoner would take exercises alone.P7

P1Privileges.P7

P7Two warders were kept on a `round-the-clock' watch with the
prisoner. The cell was not a cheerful place - a bed, table,
three or four chairs, a toilet and washing facilities were
standard. And the light was on 24 hours a day. Food had to
be eaten with only a spoon. Apart from this, the condemned
man had privileges that the ordinary prisoners did not
have.P7

P7Games like cards, chess and dominoes were provided. Food was
supplied from the main prison kitchen and the prisoner was
allowed to have what he wanted, within reason. The prisoner
was also allowed a pint of beer and ten cigarettes every
day, which could be smoked in the cell.P7

P7The governor, medical officer and chiefofficer would visit a
prisoner under sentence of death twice a day and the chap-
lain had free access if the prisoner wanted to see him.
Visitors were allowed - friends, relations, and legal
advisers - as long as they were approved by the Visiting
Commissioners. At 4 p.m. on the eve of the execution, the
executioner and his assistant arrived. They were not allowed
to leave the prison until the execution was carried out.P7

P1Measuring Up.P7

P7They would observe the prisoner, at exercise or through the
peephole in the main cell door, to gauge his height, weight
and build, and would then test out the gallows using a bag
of sand of around the same weight. The bag was left hanging
overnight to stretch the rope. A longer drop was required
for slight, thin people with poorly developed neck
muscles.P7

P7The night before the hanging, it was customary for the
governor to visit the prisoner to see if there was anything
he wanted to say. On the morning of the execution it was
usual for the chaplain to spend the final hours with the
prisoner and stay with him until it was all over. The
executioner and his assistant, together with the chief
officer and another warder would wait outside the death
cell. On a signal, the execitioner entered the cell and tied
the prisoners arms behind his back.P7

P1Final Walk.P7

P7He was then escorted to the gallows, with one officer on
either side, through the other door in the cell - the first
time it would be opened since the prisoners arrival. The
prisoner was placed on the `drop', directly across the divi-
sion of the trap doors, and his feet were tied together. The
executioner placed a white cap over the condemned man's head
and the noose around his neck. Then the lever was pushed.P7

P7From leaving the cell the whole process took only 18 seconds
and the prisoner was often given brandy to settle his
nerves. The medical examiner checked the body to make sure
that life was extinct. Then the area was locked and the body
was left to hang for an hour. The inquest and burial were
held the same day. By tradition hangings were always held at
9 o'clock in the morning. On Monday, 10 August 1949, John
George Haigh kept his final appointment - with his execut
-ioner, Albert Pierrepoint.P7

P1True FactsP7.

P7Wandsworth Prison in South London is the last prison in
Britain still to have a condemned cell. It is now used main-
ly as a holding prison, keeping convicted criminals while
they are found places in other prisons.P7

P7In court the `Bkack cap' would be placed on the judge's
head by the clerk of the court and the final word pronoun-
ced.... the sentence of this court upon you is that you be
taken from this place to a lawful prison, and thence to a
place of execution, and there you suffer death by hanging,
and that your body be buried within the precincts of that
prison in which you shall have last been confined before
your execution; and may the lord have mercy on your soul.P7

P7Haigh was totaly indifferent to the verdict when he was sen-
tenced to death. When the clerk of the court asked, `prison-
er at the bar, have you anything to say why sentence of
death should not be passed upon you according to the law?'
Haigh stood on tiptoe, almost as if he wanted to get a bet-
ter view of the proceedings, looked the clerk in the eye,
and raising his eyebrows slightly, replied,`Nothing at all.'
Even as the judge was pronouncing sentence after the black
cap ceremony, Haigh watched everything alertly - his head
cocked slightly to one side.The ever present smile was still
on his face. Two senior prison medical officers, Dr Mathe-
son from Brixton and Dr Nichols from Lewes, were crouched
down behind Haigh in the dock, out of view of the court.P7

P7They were present in case the prisoner should be taken ill
while being sentenced to his appalling fate, but were not
required. All that happened was that Haigh's eyelids quiver-
ed slightly. A warder then touched him on the elbow and lead
him quitly to the cells below, where he puffed thoughtfully
on a cigarette, his head bowed.P7

P1BP1y P3SP3PP3UP3DP1/P3SP3DP3TP7.