The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and leg. Alfred P. Southwick, a Buffalo, New York dentist, conceived this execution method in 1881. It was developed over the next decade as a more humane alternative to conventional executions, particularly hanging. First used in 1890, the electric chair became symbolic of this execution method.
Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York, United States. It is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Midtown Manhattan on the east bank of the Hudson River. It holds about 1,700 inmates and housed the execution chamber for the State of New York until the abolition of capital punishment in New York in 2007.
Old Sparky is the nickname of the electric chairs in Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Old Smokey is the nickname of the electric chairs used in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. "Old Sparky" is sometimes used to refer to electric chairs in general, and not one of a specific state.
The official title of "state electrician" was given to some American state executioners in states using the electric chair during the early 20th century, including the New York State electrician. The title itself is somewhat of a euphemism, while the persons appointed were electricians by trade, the title on its own did not give any indication as to the true responsibilities of the position.
Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility.
Rhonda Belle Martin was an American serial killer and family annihilator who was executed by the state of Alabama for the murder of Claude Carroll Martin, her fourth husband, in 1951. Martin's method of murder was rat poison; she was also accused of poisoning and murdering her own mother, as well as five of her seven children, all of whom were below the age of 12 at their deaths. Only one of her victims, her former step-son and fifth husband Ronald Martin, was known to have survived. Although she initially confessed to all the murders she was accused of committing, she later recanted her confession in the murders of two of her children.
Eddie Lee Mays was the last person to be executed by the state of New York. He was convicted of first degree murder and robbery in 1962. Mays was 34 years old at the time of execution.
Glass v. Louisiana, 471 U.S. 1080 (1985), was a case denied for hearing by the United States Supreme Court in 1985. The case is famous for Justice Brennan's dissent from the denial of certiorari, joined by Justice Marshall, arguing that the death penalty is always unconstitutional.
Capital punishment was abolished in the U.S. State of West Virginia in 1965.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of South Dakota.
Capital punishment was outlawed in the State of New York after the New York Court of Appeals declared it was not allowed under the state's constitution in 2004. However certain crimes occurring in the state that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government are subject to the federal death penalty.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Mississippi.
John W. Hulbert Jr. was the executioner for the states of New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts from 1914 to 1926. Hulbert was trained as state electrician by his predecessor, Edwin F. Davis, and oversaw 140 electrocutions during his tenure.
Joseph Francel was an American electrician from Cairo, New York, who was the state of New York's executioner from 1939 until 1953.
Capital punishment in the Bahamas is a legal punishment, and is conducted by hanging at Fox Hill Prison. The last execution in the country was on January 6, 2000. As of August 2012, only one convict, Mario Flowers, was under the sentence of death. Flowers' death sentence was commuted in 2016. Since independence from Britain, it has carried out more than a dozen executions.
Orange Prince is a painting by American artist Andy Warhol of Prince, the American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, actor, and director. The painting is one of twelve silkscreen portraits on canvas of Prince created by Warhol in 1984, based on an original photograph provided to Warhol by Vanity Fair. The photograph was taken by Lynn Goldsmith. These paintings and four additional works on paper are collectively known as the Prince Series. Each painting is unique and can be distinguished by colour.
A Career of Crime is an American Mutoscope film series made in New York City in 1900. The film series includes No. 1: Start in Life; No. 2: Going the Pace; No. 3: Robbery & Murder; No. 4: In the Toils and part 5, Death in the Electric Chair. It was marketed with an electric chair and depicts its use in carrying out the death penalty. It was filmed in New York City and depicts an execution at Sing Sing Prison. It is part of a film series. Arthur Marvin was the cinematographer.
