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.
