The two worst executions in America...one of them was burned during the execution

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Yesterday, Thursday, the American state of Tennessee was about to carry out a failed execution against the accused, 50-year-old Christa Pike. According to her lawyer, Christa Pike, accused of a murder dating back to 1995, was taken to the hospital in critical condition after surviving two lethal doses used during the execution. As a result, the Governor of Tennessee announced the suspension of all executions this year.

Like Christa Pike, the United States has previously witnessed many similar cases where defendants such as Joseph Samuel, Romell Broom, and Doyle Lee Hamm survived fatal doses and lived for additional periods.

Christa Pike's story brings to mind two of the worst executions in American history. During the executions of Wallace Wilkerson and William Kemmler, the two struggled with death for long periods before dying under difficult circumstances.

Wallace Wilkerson case

After years spent working in the field of livestock and horse training, the defendant, Wallace Wilkerson, found himself before the court in Utah in 1877 on charges of murder. The crime dates back to June 1877. Then, Wallace Wilkerson stopped at a bar, where he met William Baxter by chance. There, the two men decided to play cards and bet a sum of money. During the game, a heated dispute broke out between the two men, during which Wallace Wilkerson killed William Baxter. According to witnesses, Wilkerson shot his opponent before fleeing.

Following his arrest, Wallace Wilkerson defended himself and presented a story completely contrary to what the witnesses reported. Later, the court issued a death sentence for Wallace Wilkerson, who chose death by firing squad.

Wallace Wilkerson was executed in Provo, Utah, on May 16, 1879. At that time, the latter refused to be blindfolded while the executioners drew a white mark at his heart level so that the shooters could accurately hit their target. Meanwhile, the execution did not go well. At the signal to fire, Wilkerson moved, which caused him to be hit by three bullets in his chest and one in his hand.

As a result, the accused fell screaming in pain. At the same time, the doctor approached and confirmed that he had not died and tried to help him. But about 27 minutes later, Wilkerson died due to the severe bleeding he suffered.

In the following period, Wilkerson's execution case was transferred to the US Supreme Court. In its response, the Supreme Court dismissed the case and affirmed that Wilkerson's execution was not cruel and unusual.

The first execution by electric chair

About ten years after Wallace Wilkerson. William Kemmler was executed in a similar manner. After he was accused of killing his wife, William Kemmler was sentenced to death in May 1889 in the state of New York, via the electric chair, making him the first American to be executed in this way.

To confirm the effectiveness of this new method, the administration of Auburn Prison in New York conducted an experiment in which it shocked a horse with an alternating current of one thousand volts. Following the death of the horse on the spot, the prison administration decided to proceed with using the electric chair against Kemmler.

On the morning of August 6, 1890, executioners shocked William Kemmler with a thousand volts. After a series of tests, those present and the doctor noticed that Kemmler was still alive, as the latter was breathing. As a result, the executioners went to charge the generator again with an alternating current, this time reaching two thousand volts. During the second stunning operation, blood exploded from Kemmler's body and the smell of roasted meat wafted into the execution chamber, causing a state of nausea among those present.

During the two attempts, Kemmler's execution took a full 8 minutes, while the accused waited for the generator to charge until he died. Because of this, American newspapers at the time criticized the use of the electric chair and praised ancient methods of execution.