What would be the most humane way to carry out a state execution?

Probably modern hanging. We tend to say that someone was ‘hanged’ but in fact this covers two very different forms of execution. The first known as ‘short drop’ or ‘strangulation’ hanging is seen in some films and photos. Typically the victim is standing on a stool or chair. Their hands have been tied behind their back to stop them trying to interfere with the noose. Often their legs would be tied together too but in the past when the hanging was public the audience liked to see the victims legs kick as they died. The stool or chair would be removed and the victim only dropped a short distance depending upon the length of the noose, usually no more the two feet. With the weight of their body pulling down on the noose it tightened and slowly strangled them. This was a horrible and inhumane process which could take anything from 5 to 20 minutes (*see also Michael Mills’s comment below). Please don’t ask me to go into the physiological details . . . they aren’t for the faint-hearted.

The other method is long drop hanging introduced into Britain in 1872. The last Public Execution took place in Britain on the 27th of May 1868. The Capital Punishment Amendment Act of 1868 brought Public executions to an end. From then on executions, by hanging, would take place within the prison the condemned were in. However, it had to be witnessed by the Prison Governor and certain other prison staff at close quarters. As the short drop method was still being used the witnesses were frequently very distressed and upset by prolonged death.

William Marwood was one of the governments executioners and he pioneered the ‘long drop’ method. Here the condemned person drops swiftly as a trap door opens beneath them. The length of drop is very important and needs to be adjusted to take account of their weight, build and structure of their neck and jaw. If done correctly the condemned person loses consciousness instantly at the bottom of the drop and the body dies within seconds due to the neck having been broken.

The so called “Hangman’s fracture” of the spine, showing the displacement of C2 in relation to C3. It was perfected in British prisons quite quickly. The calculation of the length of the drop soon became quite sophisticated. It needed to be. If it was too short there was a danger of strangulation the neck not having been broken by the fall, or if too long there was the danger that the energy of the falling body could become sufficient to decapitate it!

Although unknown to the nation at the time Albert Pierrepoint was to become one of the countries most famous executioners. He really perfected the execution method in his time. He felt that the condemned person was already paying the ultimate price for their crime(s) and it was his job to make the process as swift and humane as possible. The time from when he walked into the condemned cell, secured their arms, walked them through a door into the execution chamber, positioned them on the trap and dropped them was just 12 seconds! So it was all over almost before the prisoner knew what was happening.

Not only did he conduct executions in this country but he was involved in the post war execution of war criminals in Germany. He wrote his memoirs in 1974 and there was a film about him in 2005. There is an excellent wiki piece about him and the execution system . . . .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al...

See also further explanation of the different methods of hanging . . .

Hanging - WikipediaHanged by the neck until dead.

The process of judicial hanging

Monsieur Guillotin was similarly horrified by inhumane short drop/strangulation hanging and designed his apparatus to provide a swifter more humane method of execution . . . which it probably was . . . . . but long drop hanging definitely wasn’t so messy!