The Sun.
London, England, 1870-07-30 00:00:00

THE EXECUTION AT DUBLIN

The horrible execution in Richmond Bridewell, at which
the culprit's head was severed from his body, owing to his
being made to fall a distance of fourteen feet, wasfollowed
by an inquest. It appears that the surgeon of the prison
anxious to lessen the pain of execution to the unfortunate
man, considered a fall of fourteen feet necessary to pro
duce instantaneous death. This official, Dr. Minchin,
deposed as follows :—The- head was completely severed
from the trunk, all the parts being divided evenly.
across. The second cervical vertebra was frac-
tured, which alone would cause instantanepus
death. The fall which he got was less in propor-
tion to his height than the fall Kilkenny got at Kilmain-
ham. The fall is a matter simply of figures. Death by
strangulation is caused by a short rope, with all the at-
tendant horrors of kicking and struggling, whereas a
long rope ensures a sudden, instantaneous, and painless
death, by fracturing or dislocating one of the bones of the
neck. A portion of the force of the fall is usually ex-
pended in tightening the elaborate noose usually em-
ployed, whereas in the present case I fear that the noose
was tightened beforehand, and thus an additional force
was reserved which resulted in death. The usual
formula is 2,2401b5., divide I by the weight of the
offender in pounds. In this case 459 will give a
quotient representing the number required to break the
neck, which would he fourteen: The drop is twenty-two
feet from the ground, and the man fell fourteen feet. I
do not think the thinness of the rope contributed to the
accident. I suggested fourteen feet as a proper fall in
accordance with opinions founded on published
scientific data, and with the view of avoiding a lin-
gering and torturing mode of death.—A Juror : Would
you consider the slenderness of the rope would cause
the instantaneous severing of the head from the
body, for it is as clean as if it was cut by a knife ?—I
would not consider it was the thinness of the rope. I
rather attribute it to the perfect contact of the rope with
the skin.— A Juror asked to have the executioner brought
up for examination.—Captain Boyd said he was not a
prisoner. He was a man employed by the sheriff, and
left immediately after the execution.—The Rev. 'William
Anthony, Roman Catholic chaplain of the prison,
deposed : Just when deceased was led in on the
scaffold with the rope round his neck, and tightened, he
complained by saying, " Will you strangle or choke me
before 'the' time, or 'my ' time ?"—A Juror: Was it
loosened anything by the executioner ?--Witness: I could
not swear to that.—To the Coroner: I do not know
whether it is the executioner's rule to tighten the rope or
to leave it loose, so that I cannot give an opinion as to
whether he performed his duty skilfully or not ; but I
conclude it was too tight from the prisoner complaining
The Jury then retired to consider their verdict, and after
a short deliberation found the following verdict :—"We
find that the said Andrew Carr was executed in Richmond
Bridewell on the 38th July, 1870, in accordance with the
sentence of the law. We are of opinion that the separation
of the head from the body, which took place at the execu-
tion, was the result of accident, for which the prison offi-
cials are in nowise to blame."