EXECUTIONERS (True Crime) by Anne Williams, Phil Clarke, Liz Hardy Read Free Book Online Page B

long shot to say the least. The unwitting victim had somewhere between five and fifteen minutes before air disappeared from the coffin and asphyxiation killed them. Permanent brain damage could occur after only two minutes. This is probably the reason why some societies refer to those who have ‘risen from the dead’ in this manner as ‘zombies’.
     
    P RIMAL  F EAR
     
    For most of us the thought of being buried alive comes pretty high on our list of the most horrifying deaths we can imagine. The root of this horror comes not only from an obvious fear of death by asphyxiation, dehydration, starvation or (in cold climates) exposure, but also the innate fear we all have of being left alone in the dark and simply forgotten about by our fellow man.
    Most of us will have experienced at least one nightmare in which we try to scream, but the noise is stifled, or the noise comes out but we are ignored. Being buried alive, whether on purpose or by accident, must be the agonising real-life equivalent of this imagined scenario. As a form of punishment, it has to be among the very worst there is.
     
    I NTERMENT:  A   P UNISHMENT FOR  W OMEN
     
    In many societies, live burial was reserved for the punishment of women and children, particularly for crimes against religion. One theory behind this is that during such an execution, more sensitive spectators would not have to endure the gory reality of the victim’s demise. In most cases, the dying prisoner was either hidden entirely from view, or at the very worst, only their head was visible while the body was submerged in earth, sand or concrete. Perhaps this is another reason why interment can seem even more cruel a punishment than burning, hanging or drowning, since this method leaves enough territory unknown to allow the victim’s imagination to run riot.
    Live burial was, according to most experts, never popular in Britain, perhaps because, being a small island, land is generally perceived as precious – not something to be wasted for the disposal of criminals. As a result, there is only one official instance recorded in the ancient annals. It occured in 1222:
     
    A Prouinciall councell was holden at Oxforde by Stephen Langton, Archbyshoppe of Canterburie, and his bishops and others. There was a young man and two women brought before them, the young man would not come into any church, nor be partaker of the Sacrements, but had suffered himselfe to be crucified, in whom the scars of all ye wounds were to be seene, in his hands, head, side and feete, and he rioyed to be called Jesus by these women and others.
    One of the women, being olde, was accused of bewitching the young man unto such madness, and also, altering her owne name, procured herself to be called Mary the mother of Christ; They being convict of these crimes and others, were adiudged to be closed up between two walled of stone, where they ended their lives in misery. The other woman, being sister to the young man, was let go, because she revealed the wicked fact.
    In ancient Rome, vestal virgins who broke their vows of chastity could expect to suffer a similar fate. The Greek essayist and biographer Plutarch described the practice thus:
     
    A narrow room is constructed, to which a descent is made by stairs; here they prepare a bed and light a lamp and leave a small quantity of victuals, such as bread and water, a pail of milk and some oil; so that a body which had been consecrated and devoted to the most sacred service of religion might not be said to perish by such a death as famine. The culprit herself is put in a litter, which they cover over, and tie her down with cords on it, so that nothing she utters can be heard. Then they take her to the forum . . . When they come to the place of execution, the officers loose the cords, and then the high priest lifting his hands to heaven, pronounces certain prayers to himself before the act; then he brings out the prisoner, being still covered, and placing her on the