Botched Execution Attempts That Went Horribly Wrong

Botched Execution Attempts That Went Horribly Wrong

Capital punishment: the age-old way for humans to dispose of one another for crimes perceived to be the most egregious in a particular moment and place. As an ancient practice carried out countless times throughout history, there have predictably been some horrifically failed attempts. These failed executions have resulted in sheer agony for the condemned, adding insult, injury, and intense suffering to their final moments.

This list serves as a lowlight reel for history's most brutally botched executions - some from as recent as 2015. What follows goes to show that the process of capital punishment still seems to be working out a few bugs, even after hundreds of years of testing. In fact, some of these methods are still used around the world.

Jesse Tafero - 1990

In 1976, Jesse Tafero, his wife, their two children, and Tafero's friend Walter Rhodes were sleeping in a parked car when a patrol trooper, Phillip Black, tried to wake them up. Black spotted a gun on the floor of the car and wanted to speak to everyone inside. But as they got out, Rhodes and Tafero allegedly jumped the officer, shot Black and Constable Donald Irwin, and took off.

Tafero was convicted and sentenced to capital punishment. As the first surge of electricity pulsed through the electric chair, Tafero's head suddenly caught on fire. A 6-inch flame shot out of Tafero's head due to one of his executioners using a synthetic sponge instead of a sea sponge. Two more jolts were delivered, and Tafero finally died after seven minutes. 

However, after Tafero's execution, Rhodes admitted he was the one who took out the officers, not Tafero.