# What's the point of death by electrocution? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599 "2004-07-05T04:48:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/1 "2004-07-05T04:48:33Z")
I have never understood why one of our capital punishments is death by electrocution. First of all, it seems like a very random way to kill someone, as if they were having a brainstorming session on “strange execution methods” and a guy said, “why don’t we run an electric current through them!” Secondly, it seems, from what I have read about it, to be a painful, relatively slow way to die. People cook from the inside, their heads burst into flames, their eyeballs pop out, etc etc. Sounds like a very barbaric execution. Thirdly, it seems needlessly complicated and convoluted. A large amount of preparation needs to go into it, there’s something stagey about all the steps followed through in strapping the prisoner into the chair, and even then accidents apparently happen causing horrific death scenes. This is just my opinion, but the electric chair strikes me as the kind of thing that a sick, demented science fiction writer would come up with. I think it’s far from a humane method of execution. Wouldn’t a bullet in the head be a million times cheaper, faster, easier and more painless? Why the hell do we go to the legnth of strapping someone into a chair and electrocuting them, rather than shooting them in the back of the head? If we must have capital punishment at all? (But that’s another issue.) ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/2 "2004-07-05T05:10:52Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > I First of all, it seems like a very random way to kill someone, as if they were having a brainstorming session on “strange execution methods” and a guy said, “why don’t we run an electric current through them!” More of a “What can we do with this newfangled ‘electricity’ thing?” brainstorming session. Back in the days when electricity was a new development, scientists tried to do everything electrically. > [@](#): > > Secondly, it seems, from what I have read about it, to be a painful, relatively slow way to die. People cook from the inside, their heads burst into flames, their eyeballs pop out, etc etc. Sounds like a very barbaric execution. Not if it’s done right. The electricity messes up the controls for the heart, lungs, and brain, and you die fairly quickly. It’s harder to screw up than hanging, at least. The dramatic straining against the straps and such is just caused by the electricity passing through the muscles; the person is dead before that happens. [Here’s](http://www.aphf.org/chair.html) a brief history of the electric chair. > [@](#): > > Thirdly, it seems needlessly complicated and convoluted. A large amount of preparation needs to go into it, there’s something stagey about all the steps followed through in strapping the prisoner into the chair, and even then accidents apparently happen causing horrific death scenes. All forms of execution take quite a bit of preparation, you just see Ol’ Sparky more in movies because it’s more dramatic-looking. Accidents happen with all forms of execution, but they’re very rare due to the large amount of preparation. ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/3 "2004-07-05T05:15:08Z")
Still, it seems like too much of a novelty to me. The next thing we’ll have is people being launched into space. Or death by the Internet (I’ll leave that to your imaginations.) ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/4 "2004-07-05T05:23:01Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > Why the hell do we go to the legnth of strapping someone into a chair and electrocuting them, rather than shooting them in the back of the head? If we must have capital punishment at all? (But that’s another issue.) This idea is FAR less aesthetically appealing than electrocution. Someone’s gotta clean up all the blood and pieces of brain splattered around. And the family of the executed sure can’t have an open casket funeral. Admittedly the gas chamber is hardly a messy way to off someone. And it isn’t like cyanide hasn’t been around for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/5 "2004-07-05T05:25:23Z")
Oh, and to add to that last bit, _every_ currently used form of execution (even firing squad – Idaho and Oklahoma have it as an option) requires the prisoner to be strapped to a chair (or table) in much the same way. Can’t have him trying to dodge your bullet to the back of the head, can we? You’ll be happy to know that only Nebraska uses the electric chair as its sole method of execution, although [a few other states let the prisoner choose](http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=8&did=245) between it and lethal injection. [Here’s a page](http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=8&did=479) describing how they all work. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/6 "2004-07-05T05:52:26Z")
Maybe a pneumatic (or hydraulic?) piston-mounted bolt or spike fired through the brain stem and into the brain would be preferable. It would destroy the brain about as fast as a bullet to the head, but without actually bursting the skull. And it’d leave the body intact enough to harvest for organs and tissues. Anyway, one of the reasons that they thought up death via electrocution in the first place was as a humain alternative to hanging. Like **Gunslinger** said, in theory, death by electrocution should be instantanious. Of course, it took awhile to get the technical details worked out. (It probably didn’t help that Edison was trying to [make AC power look bad by using it for electrocutions, as opposed to DC, which he—and his company—favored.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_chair) It makes you wonder how much effort he was really putting into making the first electric chairs perform the best the could.) Personally, though, I’d prefer the ol’ bullet to the brain. Or maybe being plunged head-first into a vat of liquid nitrogen. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/7 "2004-07-05T05:54:15Z")
There were two things going on at the time the electric chair was first put into use. First, the main method of execution back then was hanging, and New York wanted something that wasn’t quite so slow and painful. Second, Edison and Westinghouse were slugging it out in the electric industry. Edison claimed his DC system was far safer, and Westinghouse’s AC system was much more dangerous. To demonstrate his point, Edison and his followers went around electrocuting numerous animals using AC (kinda hints at how low down and dirty the fight between Edison and Westinghouse was). The press had a field day with it, and shortly thereafter the New York legislature passed a law mandating electrocution for its executions. Edison and Westinghouse slugged it out in a few more court battles, Westinghouse claiming that it was cruel and unusual punishment, and Edison claiming that it was quick and painless. In the electric chair battle, Edison won. In the electric business, he lost (mostly due to the lack of a DC equivalent of an AC transformer). By the way, it was common back in those days (no doubt due to Edison’s campaigning) to say that someone who had been killed in an electric chair had been “Westinghoused.” As for it being a slow and painful way to die, well, this is debatable. It’s certainly a slow and horrible way to die. The person is basically cooked to death, and sometimes nasty things do happen like their eyes pop out. Sometimes there will be flames involved, but that usually means that something wasn’t done right (oh yeah, we were supposed to wet the sponge first weren’t we :eek: ). Mostly though, when bad things like that happen, it means that it wasn’t done right. Compare this to hanging. If they drop the guy from too low of a height he chokes to death on the end of the rope (a really slow horrible way to die). If they drop him from too high, his head pops off. The real question though is how painful is it to the electrocutee, and I don’t know how many studies have really been done on this. The theory is that the first jolt of electricity fries the brain to the point where the victim is no longer concious and no longer capable of feeling pain. One hopes that this is true, I suppose. As far as being needlessly complex and convoluted, I’d have to disagree. It’s no more complex and convoluted than any other method of execution I can think of (off the top of my head: hanging, firing squad, gas chamber, guillotine, lethal injection). No matter what method you choose, you have to strap the guy down and prepare the execution machine. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/8 "2004-07-05T11:50:47Z")
Though botched executions are not limited to electrocution, the chair has provided some of the more spectacular failures. From the [Death Penalty Information Center](http://deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=8&did=478) website: > [@](#): > > \*\*August 10, 1982. Virginia. Frank J. Coppola. Electrocution. \*\* > Although no media representatives witnessed the execution and no details were ever released by the Virginia Department of Corrections, an attorney who was present later stated that it took two 55-second jolts of electricity to kill Coppola. The second jolt produced the odor and sizzling sound of burning flesh, and Coppola’s head and leg caught on fire. Smoke filled the death chamber from floor to ceiling with a smokey haze. > [@](#): > > \*\*April 22, 1983. Alabama. John Evans. Electrocution. \*\* > After the first jolt of electricity, sparks and flames erupted from the electrode attached to Evans’s leg. The electrode burst from the strap holding it in place and caught on fire. Smoke and sparks also came out from under the hood in the vicinity of Evans’s left temple. Two physicians entered the chamber and found a heartbeat. The electrode was reattached to his leg, and another jolt of electricity was applied. This resulted in more smoke and burning flesh. Again the doctors found a heartbeat. Ignoring the pleas of Evans’s lawyer, a third jolt of electricity was applied. The execution took 14 minutes and left Evans’s body charred and smoldering. > [@](#): > > \*\*December 12, 1984. Georgia. Alpha Otis Stephens. Electrocution. \*\* > "The first charge of electricity … failed to kill him, and he struggled to breathe for eight minutes before a second charge carried out his death sentence …"5 After the first two minute power surge, there was a six minute pause so his body could cool before physicians could examine him (and declare that another jolt was needed). During that six-minute interval, Stephens took 23 breaths. A Georgia prison official said, “Stephens was just not a conductor” of electricity. > [@](#): > > **October 16, 1985. Indiana. William E. Vandiver. Electrocution.** > After the first administration of 2,300 volts, Vandiver was still breathing. The execution eventually took 17 minutes and five jolts of electricity.8 Vandiver’s attorney, Herbert Shaps, witnessed the execution and observed smoke and the smell of burning. He called the execution “outrageous.” The Department of Corrections admitted the execution “did not go according to plan.” > [@](#): > > \*\*July 14, 1989. Alabama. Horace Franklin Dunkins, Jr. Electrocution. \*\* > It took two jolts of electricity, nine minutes apart, to complete the execution. After the first jolt failed to kill the prisoner (who was mildly retarded), the captain of the prison guard opened the door to the witness room and stated "I believe we’ve got the jacks on wrong."15 Because the cables had been connected improperly, it was impossible to dispense sufficient current to cause death. The cables were reconnected before a second jolt was administered. Death was pronounced 19 minutes after the first electric charge. At a post-execution news conference, Alabama Prison Commissioner Morris Thigpen said, “I regret very very much what happened. [The cause] was human error.” > [@](#): > > \*\*May 4, 1990. Florida. Jesse Joseph Tafero. Electrocution. \*\* > During the execution, six-inch flames erupted from Tafero’s head, and three jolts of power were required to stop his breathing. State officials claimed that the botched execution was caused by “inadvertent human error” – the inappropriate substitution of a synthetic sponge for a natural sponge that had been used in previous executions.17 They attempted to support this theory by sticking a part of a synthetic sponge into a “common household toaster” and observing that it smoldered and caught fire. > [@](#): > > \*\*October 17, 1990. Virginia. Wilbert Lee Evans. Electrocution. \*\* > When Evans was hit with the first burst of electricity, blood spewed from the right side of the mask on Evans’s face, drenching Evans’s shirt with blood and causing a sizzling sound as blood dripped from his lips. Evans continued to moan before a second jolt of electricity was applied. The autopsy concluded that Evans suffered a bloody nose after the voltage surge elevated his high blood pressure. > [@](#): > > \*\*August 22, 1991. Virginia. Derick Lynn Peterson. Electrocution. \*\* > After the first cycle of electricity was applied, and again four minutes later, prison physician David Barnes inspected Peterson’s neck and checked him with a stethoscope, announcing each time “He has not expired.” Seven and one-half minutes after the first attempt to kill the inmate, a second cycle of electricity was applied. Prison officials later announced that in the future they would routinely administer two cycles before checking for a heartbeat. > [@](#): > > \*\*March 25, 1997. Florida. Pedro Medina. Electrocution. \*\* > A crown of foot-high flames shot from the headpiece during the execution, filling the execution chamber with a stench of thick smoke and gagging the two dozen official witnesses. An official then threw a switch to manually cut off the power and prematurely end the two-minute cycle of 2,000 volts. Medina’s chest continued to heave until the flames stopped and death came.39 After the execution, prison officials blamed the fire on a corroded copper screen in the headpiece of the electric chair, but two experts hired by the governor later concluded that the fire was caused by the improper application of a sponge (designed to conduct electricity) to Medina’s head. > [@](#): > > **July 8, 1999. Florida. Allen Lee Davis.** > "Before he was pronounced dead … the blood from his mouth had poured onto the collar of his white shirt, and the blood on his chest had spread to about the size of a dinner plate, even oozing through the buckle holes on the leather chest strap holding him to the chair."45 His execution was the first in Florida’s new electric chair, built especially so it could accommodate a man Davis’s size (approximately 350 pounds). Later, when another Florida death row inmate challenged the constitutionality of the electric chair, Florida Supreme Court Justice Leander Shaw commented that "the color photos of Davis depict a man who – for all appearances – was brutally tortured to death by the citizens of Florida."46 Justice Shaw also described the botched executions of Jesse Tafero and Pedro Medina (q.v.), calling the three executions “barbaric spectacles” and "acts more befitting a violent murderer than a civilized state."47 Justice Shaw included pictures of Davis’s dead body in his opinion.48 The execution was witnessed by a Florida State Senator, Ginny Brown-Waite, who at first was “shocked” to see the blood, until she realized that the blood was forming the shape of a cross and that it was a message from God saying he supported the execution. Note that these examples are only from the period after 1982; no doubt there are dozens more that occurred prior to that time. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/9 "2004-07-05T13:23:03Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > The execution was witnessed by a Florida State Senator, Ginny Brown-Waite, who at first was “shocked” to see the blood, until she realized that the blood was forming the shape of a cross and that it was a message from God saying he supported the execution. That makes it all okay then. Doesn’t it? :dubious: What a barbaric way to treat another human being… Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![YPOD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e99b99/32.png) [@YPOD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YPOD)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/10 "2004-07-05T13:55:11Z")
A bullet to the brain is the cheapest, least elaborate thing to do, which is why it was so popular with the old Soviet Union and our friends in China. One of my college professors had survived the Russian Revolution, and told the story of how he was a political prisoner. The guards would every so often come in and lead you down a corridor with a lot of doors. Big deal I thought. He explained that, at the time, the method of execution was for another guard to stand behind the door, and shoot the poor bastard in the back of the head by surprize. So every time they took you through a door - He also said that they used to have a single guard take the weak, manacled prisoner through. But sometimes the shooter behind the door would be tired, or drunk, or in a bad mood, and he would blow the brains of the guard out by mistake. So they tried various methods to prevent such mistakes - like letting the prisoner have a cigarette, or stand on the right, but eventually they simply resorted to having two guards and shooting the poor schmuck in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/11 "2004-07-05T14:09:33Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > That makes it all okay then. > > Doesn’t it? > > :dubious: Anyway, assuming it would have actually been a sign of god, it could have been intended to show that the executed guy was blessed by god, and his executionners were wrong. After all, isn’t the cross precisely the symbol of a capital punishment inflicted on a totally innocent person? Not sure why she didn’t consider this possibility… ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/12 "2004-07-05T14:11:06Z")
> [@](#): > > What a barbaric way to treat another human being… Yeah, cause they’re in the chair for petty crimes… ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/13 "2004-07-05T14:20:35Z")
> [@DakotaDog](#): > > Yeah, cause they’re in the chair for petty crimes… Well, the guilty ones are. The innocent ones that are electrocuted don’t seem to have justified the punishment. Note that filming of electrocutions are banned for one simple reason: If the common people saw what happened when someone was gassed or electrocuted, the practices would be outlawed immediately. So, keep the citizens in the dark about the dirty stuff. An uninformed electorate is a government’s highest priority. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/14 "2004-07-05T15:44:20Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Note that filming of electrocutions are banned for one simple reason: If the common people saw what happened when someone was gassed or electrocuted, the practices would be outlawed immediately. Are you for real? Executions were once a spectator sport, fer crying out loud. People haven’t changed so much that that bloodthirsty mindset isn’t still out there in a significant portion of the populace. The people that are for capital punishment would probably watch them, and those that aren’t would still rally against them. If you don’t believe me, then look at the popularity of such gruesome sites as Ogrish. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/15 "2004-07-05T16:47:17Z")
**QED** Another unusual fact is that both the pro-death penalty and anti-death penalty folks are in favor of televising executions. Pro-death penalty - it shows he got what he deserved. Anti-death penalty - You see? it’s barbaric, inhumane, etc. **Dakota** Agreed. Sadly some of the people who got the “chair” merely tore the tag off of a mattress or re-broadcasted events and descriptions of a Major League Baseball game _without_ getting permission. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/16 "2004-07-05T17:19:04Z")
> [@](#): > > First, the main method of execution back then was hanging, and New York wanted something that wasn’t quite so slow and painful I must take exception to this. Judicial hanging is actually an extremely fast method of execution, the victims neck is broken by the drop at around the secnd and third vertabra, snapping the spinal cord, death is almost instantaneous. There are differant methods of hanging, but the one formerly favoured by the UK is by far the fastest. This is also known as the ‘long drop’. One prisoner was declared to be deceased a mere seven seconds after leaving the condemned cell. [http://www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk/hanging1.html](http://www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk/hanging1.html) Long drop hanging compares very well in terms of speed and precision compared to other methods. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/17 "2004-07-05T17:53:23Z")
I have long held the opinion that [the guillotine](http://wywy.essortment.com/guillotinehisto_rgxj.htm) was the quickest, most painless, and least failure-prone of modern execution techniques. If I had to choose my own method of death, and my first two choices were unavailable (1st being old age and 2nd being sexual exhaution induced by the cast of “Rocco’s Reverse Gangbang”), then guillotine would be my third. Especially considering [what it replaced](http://www.fact-index.com/d/dr/drawing_and_quartering.html). However, it has a reputation as one of the most horrific and dreadful deaths. And WTH is up with a google search for [medieval torture methods](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=medieval+torture+methods) returning so many pornographic sites? That even suprised this alt.tasteless veteran. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/18 "2004-07-05T18:21:28Z")
I think they should seriously consider: •death by opiate IV overdose •death by carbon monoxide inhalation • death by atmospheric depressurization / anoxia These are all noncruel and do not create gory messes, nor do they require extensive complicated ritualistic prep work. ---
**Author:** ![Eric\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de0a6/32.png) [@Eric\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric_II)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/19 "2004-07-05T18:50:12Z")
After reading of those horribly botched electrocutions it occured to me that it’s possible a sadistic executioner could be responsible. I mean, it’s just a wild guess but who in their right mind would want to have that job. Maybe it’s his ‘dream’ job and he gets to satisfy his devient fetish legally. Is it possible someone could get off on making another human suffer so? Maybe these guys should be given a few tests and interviews by shrinks before they get to pull the lever. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599/20 "2004-07-05T19:06:31Z")
> [@Eric II](#): > > After reading of those horribly botched electrocutions it occured to me that it’s possible a sadistic executioner could be responsible. I mean, it’s just a wild guess but who in their right mind would want to have that job. Maybe it’s his ‘dream’ job and he gets to satisfy his devient fetish legally. Is it possible someone could get off on making another human suffer so? Maybe these guys should be given a few tests and interviews by shrinks before they get to pull the lever. Like that prick in _The Green Mile_: “I didn’t know the sponge was supposed to be wet.” If our main objective was “quick & painless” we could always smash the prisoner’s head between a 16-ton anvil & a block of concrete. Cleanup consists of a low-level flunkie & a fire hose. I think there’s a company in London that does pretty good wax replications of peoples’ heads–just in case the decedent’s family would like an open casket funeral. I submit to you that Quick & Painless (and thus _humane_) are not the objectives. Pro-capital punishment types want something that kills and which may provide some element of “yeah, he felt that.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-death-by-electrocution/253599.md?page=2)