字幕表 動画を再生する
-
You wake up with a start.
-
You were sleeping soundly, but now all you can think about is the work day ahead.
-
It's not an ordinary work day, you think as you look at yourself in the mirror.
-
You haven't been sleeping well, and you can see it all over your face.
-
You're a death row executioner, and your moment has come.
-
Today you go to the prison and play your role in administering capital punishment.
-
Today you're going to put a convicted murderer to death.
-
When you joined the prisons bureau as a corrections officer, this wasn't the first thing on
-
your mind.
-
But as you rose in the ranks and were assigned to the maximum-security prisons where they
-
needed your experience, you often found yourself stationed on death row.
-
This is where the inmates awaiting execution are kept under the most secure conditions,
-
only let out for limited exercise time and kept away from the other inmates.
-
Most inmates stay on death row for years, often decades, as their lawyers appeal through
-
the courts.
-
The shortest time on death row in Texas in the modern era is 252 days, but some inmates
-
have died in prison after being there for over thirty years!
-
When those appeals run out and the time to an execution ticks down though, the prison
-
prepares to make sure everything goes off perfectly.
-
Part of that is picking the executioners.
-
The executioners are usually chosen from a pool of the correction officers working at
-
the prison, and they will ask for volunteers.
-
If there are no volunteers, the prison will typically pick from the staff of officers
-
and make sure they don't have strong moral objections.
-
The executioner will work closely with the prison's death team, which is responsible
-
for preparing the death chamber, making sure the inmate is secure, and taking care of all
-
the inmate's rights before they face justice.
-
But it wasn't always this way, you think to yourself.
-
When you first volunteered to be one of the prison's executioners, you found yourself
-
looking up the history of the profession.
-
An executioner used to be a very hands-on profession, dating back to ancient times when
-
the executioner would deliver death personally and brutally.
-
In fact, the executioner used to be known as a headsman, for the most common method
-
of execution - beheading.
-
Common in medieval times, the executioner was often a big, brawny man capable of swinging
-
an ax with great force.
-
The goal was to take the condemned's head off with a single clean stroke - often in
-
front of hundreds of onlookers.
-
Most executioners carried out this duty effectively, but there were exceptions like the notorious
-
John Ketch.
-
An official executioner in England in 1663, he didn't have the sure swing needed for
-
the job and often took as many as eight swings to take a person's head off.
-
This made for a bloody and horrific show, and the people who watched were disgusted.
-
After the backlash against him, he wrote a letter defending himself and blamed the executed
-
Lord Russell for his own botched execution.
-
But after another similar failure, John Ketch was nearly lynched by the public and had to
-
be ushered away by the guards.
-
He was so despised for his brutality that his name became synonymous with Satan in English
-
lore.
-
But time marched on, and so did the death penalty.
-
Soon the axe and the basket were replaced by more technical methods of execution, starting
-
with the gallows and the guillotine.
-
Hanging and beheading were common methods of execution for hundreds of years, but they
-
relied on the strength of the axeman or of the tree branch, and by the 19th century they
-
were replaced by more reliable inventions.
-
The gallows dropped the condemned through a platform while being hung, and the guillotine
-
used a sliding blade to take a head clean off the shoulders.
-
So the task of the execution fell to someone who knew how to operate the machine.
-
The key to the job stopped being strength and started being technical know-how.
-
This trend sped up with the introduction of the electric chair in the late 19th century.
-
Finalized by Edwin Davis in 1890, it was adopted by New York and Davis became the first “State
-
executioner” of the state.
-
He was responsible for performing maintenance on the chair and ensuring the proper flow
-
of electricity went through it.
-
Davis performed over two hundred and forty executions, making him one of the most prolific
-
executioners in American history until his retirement in 1914.
-
He even presided over the execution of Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of President William
-
McKinley.
-
With the introduction of lethal injection in the 20th century, the job continued to
-
become more technical.
-
What hasn't changed is the need for anonymity in the role of the executioner.
-
While executioners could be celebrities in the middle ages, it was far more common for
-
them to avoid the notoriety of their role.
-
It was common for executioners to wear masks to disguise their identity.
-
With firing squads, it was often done by having a line of executioners aiming at the condemned,
-
but all but one of them holding guns loaded with blanks.
-
That way no one would know who fired the fatal shots - including the executioners themselves.
-
Some states use a private citizen as a volunteer, like in Florida where they're paid $150
-
per execution and their identity is kept secret.
-
But in most states, working as an executioner is a possible job duty for a member of the
-
corrections staff.
-
Lethal injection, done by sending a cocktail of drugs into the convict's body, first
-
to render them unconscious and then to stop their heart, is the most common method used
-
today.
-
A team of medical professionals is needed to set up the drug cocktails, but the actual
-
execution is left in the hands of a corrections officer who turns the key to activate the
-
flow.
-
It's common to have two or three on hand, turning keys with only one activating the
-
drugs.
-
You've done a lot of research on the history of executioners, but nothing's quite prepared
-
you for today.
-
You're snapped out of your thoughts by the sound of your alarm clock going off.
-
It's time to drive to work and head to the prison - preparation has been going on for
-
weeks, but the day of the execution is the busiest.
-
You'll have a full day of work ahead of you working with the prison's death team.
-
It's odd to be driving to work as the sun sets, but there's a reason for that - you're
-
beginning the twenty-four hour death watch as all essential staff prepares for the execution
-
and security goes up to ensure things go off smoothly.
-
Why is security so tight in the twenty-four hours before an execution?
-
Prisons are worried about potential disruptions, from protests outside the prison by anti-death
-
penalty advocates, conflicts between the family of the condemned and the those who have chosen
-
to witness the execution, or even attempts to break out an inmate.
-
For the execution of the notorious hitman “Mad Dog” Monroe, who is meeting with
-
the executioner today, you know the prison won't be taking any chances.
-
You'll start around nine PM, twenty-four hours before the execution is scheduled, and
-
work closely with the death team and a specialized security team making sure the chamber is secure.
-
But the preparations have been going on for far longer than a day.
-
For the last fifteen days, ever since “Mad Dog” Monroe was brought to the facility
-
holding the death chamber, you and your team have been testing the equipment and making
-
sure it runs properly.
-
A botched execution is not only a massive waste of equipment and preparation, but can
-
often result in serious medical complications for the condemned and lead to lawsuits and
-
professional consequences for the team responsible.
-
You've been in the death chamber so often, examining and testing the equipment for the
-
lethal injection that it feels like second nature.
-
But you know this time will be very different.
-
You've had time to get to know the rest of the team, with the security often being
-
known as the “Tie-down Team”.
-
These correction officers have one of the most important jobs of the night - they're
-
responsible for escorting the inmate and securing them to the gurney.
-
While some inmates have accepted their fate and are resigned, even remorseful, others
-
are likely to resist and may have to be physically restrained to secure the execution.
-
From the looks you've gotten at “Mad Dog” Monroe during your time working on death row,
-
you know you're not betting on him going quietly.
-
While you meet with the warden, discuss any special concerns for the day, and do another
-
run-through of the death chamber, you think about what the condemned is doing that day.
-
The final day for the inmate scheduled for execution is as structured as the day for
-
the team handling it.
-
It differs by state, but almost all states give the condemned a few special privileges
-
after they've been moved to the cell for those awaiting execution.
-
This includes meeting with a member of the clergy from their faith, choosing family members
-
they want to have at their execution, preparing their last words, and choosing their last
-
meal.
-
The last meal can be almost anything available, and requests have varied wildly.
-
Some inmates have requested things as simple as a fruit salad or a single olive with the
-
pit in it - requested by an inmate who said he hoped a tree would grow from his body.
-
But most request a big, greasy meal of all their favorites.
-
Fried chicken is a common choice, as is steak, lobster, ribs, and desserts like apple pie
-
or ice cream.
-
Forty-nine of fifty states offer inmates their choice of a last meal.
-
Texas stopped the tradition after one inmate, Lawrence Russell Brewer, requested a massive
-
meal consisting of two chicken-fried steaks, a pound of barbecue, a fully loaded pizza,
-
and a pint of ice cream, among many other things.
-
When it was brought to him, he declined to eat any of it.
-
The public was outraged at the waste of food, and the state prison bureau decided to do
-
away with the tradition.
-
Condemned inmates in Texas prisons now only get a standard prison meal on their last day.
-
The execution is slated for nine PM.
-
The death team comes to pick up “Mad Dog” Monroe about an hour before.
-
You're part of the team, but he won't know which of his security team is going to
-
be his executioner.
-
From the look in his eyes, you can tell there isn't going to be any remorse or resignation
-
there, but he doesn't put up a fight.
-
He stares you down as he's put securely in handcuffs and leg irons, and marched down
-
the long hall to the death chamber.
-
The team secures him to the gurney, and he's strapped down using a complex system of tight
-
straps that keep him from moving.
-
As the lethal injection drugs have to be injected into central veins, it's critical that he
-
not be able to move even an inch while the on-site medical team administering the syringes
-
are working.
-
But they won't be the ones administering the drugs - you will.
-
While other members of the death team stay in the room, you're taken behind a panel
-
where you're hidden from view.
-
It's common for executioners to watch from behind a two-way mirror, where they can see
-
the execution room but they can't be seen.
-
The more things change, the more they stay the same - this is a higher-tech version of
-
the masked executioner.
-
You look down at the console in front of you, with everything you need to inject the drugs
-
in the correct order.
-
Being an executioner became much more complicated with the use of lethal injection - when the
-
electric chair was the most common method of execution, it was as simple as flipping
-
a switch to start the flow of electricity.
-
You watch as the medical team secures the needles and checks the connection.
-
The guests are seated, including any family members of the condemned and any people related
-
to his victims who have asked to attend.
-
“Mad Dog” Monroe is asked if he has any last words, and he speaks for a minute but
-
you barely hear it.
-
Your mind is focused on the task ahead.
-
You receive the signal from the prison warden, who is presiding over the execution, and your
-
hand moves towards the buttons on the console.
-
With practiced ease, you press them in the correct order, and the drugs flow into the
-
tubes in the order to put the condemned under, and then to silently end his life.
-
The process takes several minutes, and then the medical professional on site checks the
-
vitals of the condemned.
-
He nods.
-
The execution has gone off perfectly, and you played your part as the anonymous executioner.
-
It's over.
-
Now check out “Teenage Death Row Inmate Who Survived His Own Execution” for more
-
on one of the most spectacular failed executions in American history, or check out this video
-
instead.