On August 6, 1890, at Auburn Prison, New York, William Kemmler became the first person to be sent to the chair. He was convicted of murdering his lover, Matilda Ziegler, with an axe. After he was strapped in, a charge of approximately 700 volts was delivered for only 17 seconds before the current failed. Although witnesses reported smelling burnt clothing and charred flesh, Kemmler was far from dead, and a second shock was prepared. The second charge was 1,030 volts and applied for about two minutes, whereupon smoke was observed coming from the head of Kemmler, who was clearly deceased. An autopsy showed that the electrode attached to his back had burned through to the spine. Electrocution as a humane means of execution was first suggested in 1881 by Dr. Albert Southwick, a dentist. Southwick had witnessed an elderly drunkard “painlessly” killed after touching the terminals of an electrical generator in Buffalo, New York. In the prevalent form of execution at the time—death b...
CCTV shows bizarre method man escapes cafe he 'broke into' CCTV footage has captured the bizarre moment a man attempted to escape a cafĂ© in Bournemouth following a break-in. A man allegedly broke into Foodelicious Moordown in Wimborne Road in the early hours of Wednesday, January 25. He appears to attempt an escape through a window at the side of the building in the kitchen and struggles in doing so, before climbing onto a kitchen unit. Pei Armstrong, owner of Foodelicious Moordown, said she found the whole ordeal “annoying” and that he went through “so much effort” for little reward. She said: “The guy in the video broke in during the early hours of the 25th and he came through the front door. “He managed to bend the two metal bars on the little window and he came through that door. “He only spent a few minutes in the premises, but he took a mobile phone and a charger and then he got out through the kitchen window. “As you can see...