The Toll on the Executioner

Nothing deters like capital punishment, right? A comfortable notion that needed to be investigated, so I did. If it works then surely people close to the system would be deterred, especially executioners and would-be hangmen. So were they? Months after his resignation as Chief Executioner John Ellis, tried to commit suicide in 1924 – then a criminal offence – after a bout of drinking.

Ellis promised not only to curb his drinking, but never to attempt suicide again, but Ellis died by his own hand eight years later. He threatened to kill his wife and daughter with a cut-throat razor. They fled before the former executioner who had participated in over two-hundred executions turned the razor on himself in September 1932. Had he succeeded in killing his wife and daughter rather than himself, he would probably have faced execution at the hands of his bitter rival Tom Pierrepoint.

The Applicant

Ellis escaped the gallows, but one would-be executioner was not so fortunate. In previous centuries some executioners had committed worse crimes than the people they were hanging and at least two ended their lives on the gallows.

As the twentieth century approached villainy was no longer a recommendation, but one criminal had aspirations of a career on the other side of the rope. Samuel Dougal applied to become a hangman in the 1890s. He was rejected as unsuitable. Nevertheless, he plainly knew the consequences for murder.

While France celebrated the 114^th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, Dougal finally got his own tour of the execution chamber, but from the wrong side. He was there to be hanged by William Billington, assisted by Ellis, although an over-enthusiastic prison chaplain delayed it by thrice demanding to know if Dougal was guilty or not. After refusing to answer twice Dougal confirmed his guilt from beneath the hood and the lever was pulled. The chaplainʼs behaviour infuriated Billington.

The Road to the Gallows:

He was the only applicant to become a hangman to go to the gallows in the twentieth century in Britain. In 1885 Dougal buried two wives who had died in mysterious circumstances in Canada. Seven years later he married again in Dublin – the most fortunate of his partners. Falling on hard times he saw the inside of a prison cell for forgery. Sarah White left him soon after his release and Dougal set his sights on the wealthy Camille Holland, or rather her money and property.

They moved in together and Dougalʼs roving eye settled on servant Florence Havis. His attempt to molest her was thwarted by Holland on May 16^th 1899. Three days later Holland went missing. Dougal soon moved his wife in and enjoyed access to Hollandʼs bank account. He had a succession of girlfriends, but seemed to have a charmed existence.

Eventually the police investigated Hollandʼs disappearance – forged cheques proved the beginning of the end. He was arrested on March 18^th 1903 at a bank in possession of bank notes with serial numbers the police had informed banks to be alert for. Arrested on a holding charge of forgery his Moat House Farm in Essex was searched and the decomposing body of Camille Holland was finally discovered.

She had been shot in the head with Dougalʼs gun. After a two-day trial Mr Justice Wright donned the black cloth and sentenced the applicant executioner to be hanged. Dougal was hanged in Chelmsford Prison on July 14^th 1903. The ultimate deterrent could not prevent a would-be hangman from committing murder and ending his life on the gallows.

It is often said that capital punishment is the ultimate deterrent. The Fitted-In Project is not convinced. No matter how harsh the punishment it cannot deter criminals who do not think that they will ever be brought to justice. Executions occurred and the crimes they were intended to deter continued.

The last executions in Britain happened just over 50 years ago. Gwynne Evans and Peter Allen were hanged on August 13^th 1964 for the robbery and murder of John West. Just two months later Labour came to power and fulfilled a manifesto promise. Capital punishment was suspended and ultimately abolished for murder five years later. It was abolished for all offences in 1998.

Wretched

For 64 years of the last century people were hanged. Hanging women was rare, but not unheard of. More often than not it was controversial. The execution of Ruth Ellis was certainly hotly debated and remains contentious even now, but three decades earlier, the execution of Edith Thompson was worse – she was petrified of the prospect of execution and cut so wretched a figure that it traumatised the executioner. John Ellis tried to kill himself a year later. Attempting suicide was then a serious criminal offence. Ellis succeeded in taking his own life in 1932.

The use of capital punishment was debated and agonised over a few times during that period. Then, as now, it had supporters – usually slamming opponents as soft on crime, but who did it protect? Did actually deter at all? We don’t think so for the following reasons:

Deterrent Tales

Satish Sekar examines some unusual stories from the last century, mainly from Britain, but not limited to that jurisdiction. Law enforcement officers knew the consequences of murder fully, yet Britain is not the only country to have executed a police officer in the twentieth century. The USA was first and Morocco put a senior officer to death – a serial rapist.

Ernest Moss may even have used the death penalty to commit suicide by proxy. John Reginald Halliday Christie – one of Britainʼs most notorious serial killers – was fully aware of the consequences of his crimes. In addition to several murders, he chose to send an innocent man to the gallows and continued killing after Timothy Evans was wrongfully convicted and hanged. How hanging the wrong man can deter anyone has yet to be explained.

Rogues Undeterred

Among the gallery of those who should have been deterred if indeed capital punishment worked were the following: a solicitor, a would-be executioner and a friend of the chief executioner – all of whom committed murder knowing that the penalty was death.

A serving police officer went to the gallows along with two former officers, and a special constable. All of them knew full well the punishment for murder was hanging. It failed to stop them. If capital punishment can not deter people such as these, can it be considered a deterrent at all, let alone the ultimate one?