According to this CNN article, Mitchell Rupe couldn’t be hanged for a double murder because he was too heavy.
Okay, fine, he just died anyway… but what struck me was that hanging him was even an option anymore! The crime was committed in 1981, but it says “In 1994, a federal judge upheld his conviction but agreed with Rupe’s contention that at 400 pounds, he was too heavy to hang because of the risk of decapitation. At the time, Washington’s only manner of execution was hanging. The main method now is lethal injection.”
So at least as late as 1994 we were still hanging people in the U.S.? Are any other states still practicing this? I’m not looking for a debate about capital punishment, I just always thought hanging was a Wild West, 1800’s, so passe type of criminal punishment.