This terrible profession is necessary. After all, the existence of the death penalty implies that someone will carry it out. The image of a person who, by the will of the law, takes life is always sinister. Cinema gives us images of a man naked to the waist with his face covered by a mask.
In life, everything is completely different. Executioners most often outwardly do not stand out much from the crowd, but deep down a real hell unfolds. Few people can "boast" that they killed a hundred people with impunity. To press the cherished button, you need remarkable willpower and a special warehouse of the psyche. Executioners are amazing and mysterious people, the story will go about the most famous people of this profession.
Albert Pierpoint (1905-1992). In the photographs, this man is usually smiling, nothing says that this man took the lives of at least 400 people. The Englishman grew up in an unusual family - his father and uncle were executioners. Henry Pierpoint himself chose this profession and, after repeated requests, he was hired. For 9 years of service, Albert's father hanged 105 people. All this time, the man kept a diary, where he wrote down the details of the execution. This book was read by the growing Albert. Already at the age of 11 school essay the boy wrote that he dreams of following in his father's footsteps. Such a desire was understandable - a rare profession would make it possible to stand out from the faceless crowd. Great impression produced the story of his father, who told with what respect his father was treated. Albert filed several applications until in 1931 he was admitted to the state prison in London. The career of the young executioner developed rapidly. A special burden on the executioner fell during the war years and after its end. For 6-7 years he had to hang 200 war criminals. Pierpoint achieved real mastery - the entire procedure, from the procession of the prisoner from his cell to the pressing of the lever, took the executioner up to 12 seconds. I must say that such a position was quite lucrative. The executioner was paid piecework - first 10, and then 15 pounds per execution. Pierpoint's work during the war brought him good capital, he was even able to buy a pub in Manchester. Interestingly, in England it is believed that the identity of the executioner should be hidden, but Pierrepoint was declassified by journalists. After retiring in 1956, Albert sold an account of his life to the Sunday newspaper for an impressive £400,000. The history of the executioner served as the basis for many notes and even documentary film. Pierpoint became a celebrity, the subject of interviews. It is interesting that he himself spoke out for the abolition of the death penalty, since he did not see the fear of death in the eyes of criminals.
Fernand Meissonier (1931-2008). And this French executioner had a family profession. My father was engaged in killing people for the sake of profit and benefits. After all, it allowed him to travel for free, earn good money, possess military weapons and even financial benefits. For the first time, Fernand joined the bloody work at the age of 16. He recalled that when a person was executed with a guillotine, blood spattered, as if from a glass, 2-3 meters. Fate decreed that Meissonier, a fan of the theater and ballets, was forced to become an executioner, unofficially helping his father. In 1958, Fernand was appointed the first assistant to the executioner, having worked in a bloody position until 1961. The peak of executions occurred in 1953-1957. Then the liberation movement in Algeria gave the executioners a lot of convicts. During this time alone, Meissonier executed more than 200 rebels. Father and son tried to do their job as quickly as possible so as not to prolong the torment of the doomed. The executioner scolded American colleagues who deliberately drag out the ceremony. Fernand recalled that the guillotine was the most painless execution. The executioner also became famous for the fact that he managed to pick up his head, preventing it from falling. It happened that after the execution, Fernand was covered in blood from head to toe, shocking the guards. After retiring, the executioner shared his memories and even demonstrated the tool of his labor. Model "48" chopped badly, had to help with his hands. In addition, the convicts often pulled their heads into their shoulders, which prevented a quick execution. Meissonier says that he does not feel any remorse, as he was simply the punishing hand of Justice.
Richard Brandon. historical fact is the stay of this man as the executioner of London in 1649. Many sources say that it was he who carried out the death sentence passed on King Charles I. Richard's father, Gregory Brandon, was also an executioner, sharing his skill with the heir. Historians find evidence that the family descended from an illegitimate descendant of the Duke of Sufflek. Father and son have earned notoriety in London. A sad jargon has even appeared in the city - "Gregory's trees." So the people began to call the gallows. And the very name Gregory became a household name, meaning the executioner. Brandons gave their profession another nickname - "Squire". The fact is that by their service they achieved the right to the coat of arms and the title of Esquire, which later went to the descendants. Little is known about the execution of the king. It was believed that Richard refused to do so, but he could very well be forced to change his mind by force. After Brandon's death, a small document was released that revealed the secrets of his profession. So, for each execution, the executioner received 30 pounds sterling, and in half-crowns. Brandon's first victim was the Earl of Strafford.
John Ketch. This executioner received his sad fame during the time of King Charles II. The Englishman had Irish roots. It is believed that he took office in 1663, although the first mention of his name dates back to 1678. Then a miniature was drawn in the newspaper in which Ketch offered a kind of cure for rebellion. The fact is that the 80s of the XVII century were marked by riots. Therefore, there were quite a lot of executions, the executioner did not sit without work for a long time. Anthony Wood's autobiography contains a passage on the hanging of Stephen College. The author tells how the already dead body was removed, and then quartered and burned by an executioner named Ketch. This man stood out even among his colleagues with excessive cruelty, and sometimes even with strange clumsiness. For example, the famous rebel Lord William Russell was executed rather inaccurately. The executioner was even forced to officially apologize, explaining that he was distracted just before the blow. Yes, and the suicide bomber lay unsuccessfully on the chopping block. The story goes that Ketch often inflicted painful but not fatal blows on the victim, causing him to suffer. Either the executioner was really awkward, or he was a sophisticated sadist. The last option seemed to the common people the most truthful. As a result, on July 15, 1685, James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, paid his executioner 6 guineas to execute him qualitatively. After the action, Ketch was guaranteed an additional reward. However, John blundered - even in three blows he failed to separate his head. The crowd went berserk, to which the executioner generally refused to continue what he had begun. The sheriff forced Ketch to complete the execution and two more blows finally killed the unfortunate rebel. But even after that, the head remained on the body, the executioner had to cut it off with a knife. Such cruelty and unprofessionalism outraged numerous spectators - Ketch was led away from the chopping block under guard. Died cruel executioner in 1686, and his name became a household name for people of this profession. Ketch's name has been mentioned by many writers, including Dickens himself.
Giovanni Bugatti (1780-1865). This man devoted his whole life to such an ignoble profession. As it turned out, the Papal States also had their executioner. Bugatti worked in this position from 1796 to 1865, even earning the nickname "Master of Justice". Already in old age the executioner was retired by Pope Pius IX, having appointed a monthly pension of 30 skudos. Bugatti called the executions he carried out the accomplishment of justice, while his convicts themselves were called patients. From 1796 to 1810, the executioner killed people with an ax, a wooden hammer, or with the help of a gallows. In France, the guillotine became popular in those years, this tool also came to the Papal States. The executioner quickly mastered the new murder weapon. At the same time, the guillotine used was unusual - its blade was straight, and not beveled, as in France. Even the image of Bugatti remained in history - he was a full and short man, well-dressed, childless, but married. In addition to his service, Giovanni, along with his wife, sold painted umbrellas and other souvenirs for tourists. The executioner's house was located on a narrow street in the Trastevere district, on west bank Tiber. Bugatti could leave this place solely for work. Such a measure was invented solely for his protection, if suddenly the relatives of the executed want to take revenge on the executioner. That is why the appearance of Bugatti on the bridge of the Holy Angel, which separated his area from the main part of the city, told Rome that the execution would soon take place and it was time to get ready to look at this spectacle. Today, the attributes of the famous executioner - his axes, guillotine and blood-splattered clothes - can be seen in the Museum of Criminology in Via del Gonfalon.
Jules Henri Defurneau (1877-1951). This man came from of old kind executioners, whose roots go back to the Middle Ages. Like other Frenchmen of this profession, Defurneaux used the guillotine for his work. The first execution for the executioner took place in 1909, he acted as an assistant to Anatole Deibler. When he died in 1939, hurrying to his 401st execution, Defurno was appointed the country's chief executioner. It was Jules Henri who spent the last public execution in the country on June 17, 1939. Then on the boulevard square in Versailles was executed Serial killer Eugene Weidman. Those events went down in history also because they were filmed from the windows of a private apartment. The executioner insisted that the execution take place during the day. At this time, a crowd was having fun near the prison, music was playing, cafes were working. All this convinced the authorities that in the future criminals should be executed for behind closed doors and away from prying eyes. During the Second World War, the executioner worked for the Vichy regime, he was forced to carry out executions of communists and members of the resistance movement. Defurno went for it, but his assistants refused. The name of the executioner is associated with the first since 19th century beheading a woman. In 1943, the underground midwife Marie-Louise Giraud was executed, she also became the last woman officially killed by the state. After the war, the executioner became so filled with fear for his deeds that he fell into drunkenness. It even caused his son to commit suicide. So a difficult profession left its mark on a person's personal life. Defurno worked as an executioner almost until his death, hardly balancing on the verge of insanity.
Clement Henri Sanson. The Sanson dynasty of Parisian executioners served the state from 1688. Charles Henri became famous for the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, as well as Danton. It was under him that the guillotine appeared in France. And his son executed Robespierre. Clement Henri became the last representative of the dynasty. He received his position in 1840, but his career in this position lasted only 7 years. The fact is that in those years there were practically no executions in Paris. And the executioner worked piecework, so his bloody profession did not bring him money. As a result, Clement Henri got into so much debt that he even pawned his main tool- guillotine. And as luck would have it, the state ordered the execution immediately. However, the moneylender refused to give an unusual pledge without money. As a result, the unlucky executioner was fired. But if not for this unfortunate incident, then the professional dynasty could have existed for another hundred years - the death penalty in the country was abolished only in 1981. When the book “Notes of an Executioner” appeared in France, many attributed its creation to Henri Sanson. After all, the book told about the bloody era of the French Revolution and about Charles Henri Clement, who personally executed more than two thousand people. However, twenty years after the publication, it became known that the author was actually Honore de Balzac. That deception had a sequel. In 1863, another "Notes of the Executioner" was published, in 6 volumes. The editor was the same Clement Henri Sanson. However, after 10 years it turned out that this was also a fake. The executioner was found in the early 1860s by an enterprising journalist who bought the right to publish on his behalf for 30,000 francs.
Johann Reichgart (1893-1972). This German had many executioners in his family. Only to mid-eighteenth century in the family, there were already 8 generations of people of this profession. Reichgart's career began in 1924, he was an executioner and under Weimar Republic, which tried to instill democracy in Germany, and under the Third Reich. This man kept scrupulous records of all his executions, as a result, the researchers counted more than three thousand people. Most of them are in the years 1939-1945, when the executioner killed 2876 people. AT recent times During the war, Reichgart's main clients were political prisoners and traitors. Anti-fascist students from the organization "White Rose" passed through the hands of the executioner. This execution, like others like it, took place on the Fallschwert guillotine. This low design was a revised version of the French instrument. Reichgart had a fairly large amount of work, however, he strictly followed the rules for the execution of the sentence. The executioner wore traditional attire for people of his profession - a white shirt and gloves, a black jacket and bow tie, and a top hat. The duty of service threw Reichgart to various places in German-occupied Europe, including Austria and Poland. In order to do his job better, the executioner even asked the government for the right to exceed the speed limit during his travels between execution sites. During one such trip, Reichgart was surrounded by Allied troops and drowned his mobile guillotine in the river. After the surrender of Germany, no charges were brought against the executioner, the occupying authorities even hired Johann to help execute the main Nazi criminals. Although Reichgart is considered one of the most effective executioners, he strove to do his job conscientiously and quickly, reducing the suffering of the victim to a minimum. The executioner modified the design of the guillotine, which reduced the execution time to 3-4 seconds. The profession made Johann a lonely person, those around him shunned him. His wife left him, and his son committed suicide. In the 60s, Reichgart called for the return of the death penalty, arguing that the guillotine was best suited for this.
Franz Schmidt (1550-1635). This man went down in history as Master Franz. From 1573 to 1578 he worked as an executioner in the city of Bamberg, and then Nuremberg used his services until 1617. It was only by leaving his job that Schmidt was able to rid himself of the stigma of "dishonest". That was the name in those days of prostitutes, beggars and executioners. Later, shepherds, millers and actors began to fall into this group. The trouble was that such a stigma extended to the whole family, which made it difficult to join the guilds or conduct a normal funeral. Master Franz himself turned out to be a real virtuoso of his craft. In those days, a variety of sentences were passed. The executioner killed with a rope and a sword, a broken wheel, burning and immersing in water. The wheel was intended for the most notorious villains; homosexuals and counterfeiters were burned at the stake. According to the judicial rules of the Holy Roman Empire, adopted in 1532, female child murderers were executed by immersion in water. However, Schmidt himself, with the support of the clergy, succeeded in replacing this type of execution with beheading with a sword. Throughout his career, the executioner kept a diary in which he indicated the punishments he had committed over the years of work. Memories of 361 executions and 345 punishments remained on the pages. After all, the executioner also flogged people, and also cut off their ears and fingers. The first notes contain very little information, but over the years Schmidt became more talkative, even describing the details of the convict's crime. The executioner's diary turned out to be a unique document in terms of both the history of law and social history. The original has not survived to this day, however modern edition says four handwritten copies. They were made in the XVII-XIX centuries, today they are kept in the libraries of Bamberg and Nuremberg. Schmidt's diary was first published in 1801.
William Caulcraft (1800-1879). The official number of executions of this executioner is unknown. However, researchers believe that there were about 450 victims, of which about 35 were women. One of the most known victims was Francois Courvoisier, who robbed and then killed his master-lord. The execution took place on July 6, 1840. The executioner himself was born in the provincial town of Baddow, received the profession of a shoemaker. Caulcraft worked as a night watchman. Selling meat pies near the prison, he met the executioner John Foxton from Newgate Prison. He gave William a job, Caulcraft began to flog for 10 shillings a week juvenile delinquents. When Foxton died in 1829, Caulcraft was officially appointed as his successor. On April 13, 1829, just 9 days after taking office, the executioner executed the first woman, Esther Hibner. A criminal who was dubbed the "Evil Monster" by the press after starving her apprentice girl. Those events turned out to be so resonant that after the execution of the sentence, the large crowd scanned “Hurrah for Caulcraft!”. For the first time since 1700 was executed married couple, Mary and Frederick Manning suffered for the murder of his wife's wealthy lover. The last public execution took place on May 26, 1868, after which, according to English law, people were killed in private. And a little earlier, the executioner carried out the last public execution of a woman - 2 thousand people watched how the sentenced Francis Kidder fought in a noose for 2-3 minutes. It was Calcraft who became the first to execute privately. The executioner's career spanned 45 years. Caulcraft's contemporaries recall that he was incompetent in his field. Historians suggest that by delaying the execution and torment of the victim, the executioner simply entertained the public, which sometimes gathered up to 30 thousand people. Caulcraft sometimes swayed on the feet of the hanged, and sometimes even climbed on their shoulders, trying to break their necks. As a result, the executioner was forcibly retired for incompetence. He was given a pension of 25 shillings. By old age, William turned out to be a surly man with long hair and a beard and shabby black clothes.
The executioners were despised and feared, no one wanted to meet them on their way. For the ending of this meeting was predictable - death. But if the executioners in the service of the state were perceived as a necessary evil, then the hired killers of the mafia always caused people's rejection and disgust.
In the entire history of crime, not a single major criminal group has done without murders. Italian, Latin American, Russian, Japanese, Jewish, Chinese any mafia cannot exist without their "angels of death". For the law of life in these circles sounds simply: "If today you are not, then tomorrow you will be." And in order for the plan to pass without misfires, it is necessary that a professional do the dirty work. Such people knew perfectly well how quickly or painfully, depending on the wishes of the customer, to cause death to a person. All famous killers were united by one number of victims who died at their hands. As a rule, hired killers could not voluntarily end their profession. Only two things stopped them: prison or a colleague's bullet. But they got their share of fame anyway. Books were written about them, films were made, and some of them even won the sympathy of society for their activities. After all, the “orderlies of society” most often killed their own kind ...
Abe Reles is considered the most dangerous assassin of all time (about 1000 victims!). His real name is Elkan ben Shimon, but he entered the history of crime under the name of Abe Reles. The son of a Jewish immigrant from Austria, Abe was first arrested in 1924 in New York at the age of 18 for stealing chewing gum from a machine gun. After that, the life of a short boy was entirely devoted to crime.
Abe committed his first murder for revenge. Somehow his boss, the owner of slot machines, Meyer Shapiro, called him and his friends to his place. There the guys were beaten and almost shot. In addition, Shapiro took Abe's girlfriend to a field where he beat and raped her. Two months later, the frail Abe tracked down the offender and put two bullets in his face with a pistol. In addition, he killed two Shapiro brothers who took part in his beating. One of them was buried alive by Reles and his friends.
Later, Abe Reles became one of the prominent members of the Murder Inc., which flourished in the 30s under the nickname Kid Twist. Ice pick kills became his signature style. The killer, with an accurate throw, directed the sting of the ice ax to the temple or ear of the condemned. The weapon destroyed the brain, but the victim did not die immediately, but after a few minutes, experiencing terrible suffering.
Police believe Abe killed at least a thousand people. Of course, to eliminate the victims, he much more often used not an ice ax, but a pistol, which he also owned to perfection. Because of his psychopathic tendencies, Abe killed not only gangsters, but also ordinary people. So, one day he got mad at a car wash employee for not cleaning the fender of his car and shot him. On another occasion, Reles killed an employee in the parking lot just because he was pushing his car for a long time. One day after dinner at his mother's house, Abe waited until she left the room and finished off a guest he didn't like.
In 1940, the police arrested Reles. Realizing that the electric chair "shines" him, the killer opened up. Thanks to this, several major mafia bosses went to death row. But the betrayal did not pass without a trace for the executioner. On the night of November 12, 1941, Reles was found dead under the windows of an apartment on the fifth floor, where he was guarded by policemen. A tied sheet dangled from the window, from which the experts suggested that the killer tried to escape, but accidentally fell. According to other sources, the mafia bought the cops, and they themselves killed the traitor and staged his escape.
Bloody Slipper
Giuseppe Greco rightfully occupies the second line in the ranking of assassins on his account of over 300 victims. This Sicilian killer knew from an early age that he would kill. He was born in 1952 in Ciaculli, a suburb of Palermo. His uncle Michele Greco was the boss of the Ciaculli family and is closely related to the Corleone family and its bosses, Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano. His father was also a mafia and was nicknamed Scrapa, which in Italian meant Shoe. Therefore, from an early age, Giuseppe bore the nickname Slipper. finest hour for a superkiller, he broke through during the second mafia war (1981-1983), when he and his assistants shot about 300 people from a Kalashnikov assault rifle. Greco was called the commander of the death squad. Among his victims was even Carabinieri General Carlo Alberto Chiesa. One day, the 15-year-old son of the mafioso he killed vowed to take revenge on Greco. Giuseppe kidnapped the teenager, tortured him for a long time, cut off his hand first, and then his head, and dissolved the body in a barrel of acid. This barrel was waiting for other Greco martyrs. His people abducted those ordered right on the streets and brought them to a squalid shack on the seashore. There, the unfortunate were tortured, and after the murder, the bodies were immersed in a solution of hydrochloric acid. In 1982, Greco personally strangled Rossario Ricobone, one of the mafia bosses. Shortly before this, Ricobone was invited to a barbecue, where he arrived with his 8 bodyguards. But this did not save him from reprisal. After all the victims were dead, Greco ordered the corpses to be cut into pieces and thrown to the pigs.
Soon Greco himself becomes the boss of one of the families. In this status, the mafiosi are no longer involved in murders, but Greco still preferred to personally execute the victims. On July 29, 1983, he started and blew up a car in which the head of the magistrate, Rocco Kinnichi, and three of his men were traveling. Greco's cruelty and coolness led to the fact that the young generation of mafiosi began to consider him a greater authority than the supreme bosses of Cosa Nostra. Realizing this, they decided to get rid of the faithful executioner.
In September 1985, Giuseppe Greco was killed by two hitmen of his own "Death Squad".
Barry Bear Quickie
On account of the killer Bernard Hanvika about 300 victims. In the 70s of the last century, this man was in favor: he lived in a luxurious house on the coast of Florida, wore a Swiss Rolex watch and drove a Jaguar. His wife was former model who owned a clothing store. Bernard Hanvik began his career as a bar bouncer. For his tough temper, he was nicknamed Bear Barry. A little something wrong and Hanvik used his pood fists. But the things he did outside of his day job were far scarier. Hunwick was a Mafia executioner. He took orders for murders, which he carried out together with his assistants. Once Hunwick threw a merchant sentenced to death through the glass of a shop window and, having collected a handful of broken glass, forced the man to eat the pieces. Then he shot him in the back of the head. Police arrested Hunwick in 1982, after being pointed out as the killer by victim Allen Chaffin. According to the victim, Hanvik and his partner shot him and left him to die near the canal. Interestingly, after Hunwick's arrest, investigators reported that he may have been involved in more than a hundred murders. However trial showed the precariousness of the position of the prosecution, and the murderer was acquitted. However, 15 years later, another killer decided to cooperate with the police and testified against Hanvik. He revealed that Hunwick killed a drug dealer named Richard Diego Messina. The killer slashed him across the throat with a knife and shoved the corpse into the trunk of a car. After collecting irrefutable evidence, the police detained Hanvik again. Interestingly, during his arrest, they found a 22-caliber pistol with a silencer, capable of shooting underwater. In 1999, a court sentenced Bernard Hanvik to life imprisonment for a single murder. Although knowledgeable people they said that this executioner had at least 300 lives on his conscience. Barry Bear passed away on January 2, 2013 at medical center Butner for inmates in North Carolina.
ice killer
Richard Kuklinski is the undisputed killer record holder (250 victims). He was born in New Jersey on April 11, 1935 to a Polish-Irish family. The alcoholic father often beat and humiliated his children. So younger brother Richard Florin, who somehow fell under hot hand father died of a head injury. The family passed it off as an accident. Constantly observing scenes of violence, Richard involuntarily began to show it himself in real life. He once seriously beat up six guys from a street gang, and at the age of 13 he committed his first murder. Having chosen the trade of a contract killer, Kuklinski began to cooperate with five gangster families in New York. Such greed for work was explained simply. The 25-year-old executioner recently got married, had a daughter, and the young family did not have enough money. But most of all he was "attached" to the family of Roy de Meo. Although the cooperation did not start well. Kuklinski owed money to the mafia and could not pay it back. First, de Meo publicly beat the giant, but he did not resist. Then he said that he had to see him in action. De Meo stopped the car and chose the first passerby who was walking his dog. By order of the boss, the executioner approached the victim from behind and calmly discharged a revolver into the back of his head. After that, he was adopted into the family, where he received the nickname Pole. Kuklinski has been killing people for 30 years and trying to do it different ways. His test subjects were the homeless of New York. Some corpses he drowned in the Hudson, others he threw on the spot.
Kuklinski shot, cut, blew up, burned, poisoned and strangled his victims. with bare hands. Sometimes the killer used a chainsaw and cut people up while they were conscious. One of his victims, he tore out the tongue and inserted it into the anus. And a new nickname ice killer he got it from experimenting with victims' bodies in a refrigerator freezer.
Richard Kuklinski was arrested only in 1986. A police agent introduced into the gang testified against him. The executioner was convicted twice in eternal imprisonment. At the age of 70, he died in prison from a mental attack.
Drug dealer liquidator
Thomas (Tommy Karate) Peter is suspected of killing 60 people. Born December 10, 1954 to a candy merchant, he was a quiet child who was bullied by his classmates. Everything changed when Tommy saw the film "The Green Hornet" with Bruce Lee. Inspired by the desire to learn kungfu, the American went to Tokyo to learn martial arts from an authoritative sensei. Upon returning to America as a karate master, Tommy found work in mafia family Bonanno, where he became one of the main tormentors and executioners. Tommy could kill with his bare hands, but preferred with a pistol.
Most of all, the karateka liked to get even with drug dealers. So, together with his assistants, the karateka killed two Colombian drug dealers and, having stolen 16 kilograms of cocaine, sold it profitably. On another occasion, a hitman shot and killed a heroin supplier from the Middle East named SikSik, dismembered into six parts and buried in different parts of the dump.
The New York cemetery of Hundred Island was the most popular with the executioner. He believed (and not unreasonably) that his damp soil quickly decomposed pieces of flesh. Peter was seriously interested in pathology, in order to correctly dissect bodies, preventing their further identification. Always required assistants to bury the corpses deeper so that the police dogs could not smell.
Peter's weak point was that he liked to keep jewelry taken from the bodies of the victims, and this killed him. On June 25, 1992, Thomas Pitera was found guilty by a jury of the murders of 6 people. Although witnesses claimed that he killed at least 60. The Brooklyn court sentenced the executioner to life imprisonment, although the shadow of the death penalty loomed over him until the very verdict.
Sasha Soldier
Calling the bloodiest killer in Russia, people mistakenly believe that he is Alexander Solonik (nickname Macedonian). In fact, Solonik's palm was long and irrevocably intercepted by another killer of the "Orekhovskaya" organized criminal group - Alexander Pustovalov, better known by the nickname Sasha Soldat. By the way, it was he who sent Solonik and his girlfriend to the next world. The criminal career of Sasha Soldat began in 1993, when a demobilized marine tried to get a job in the Moscow OMON. But the guy didn't have higher education, and they gave him a turn from the gate. Deciding to pour wine over his grief, Pustovalov went into a pub and got into a fight with three bandits. He was noticed by the foreman of the "Orekhovskaya" organized criminal group and offered to work. Pretty quickly, Sasha Soldier turned from a simple fighter into an extra-class killer. In August 1995, in a cafe in the center of Moscow, Sasha Soldier, together with his partners, cold-bloodedly shot Alik Assyrian and his guards. On the way out, Pustovalov leaves the killer's equipment right at the central office of the Prosecutor General's Office. In another case, the Soldier single-handedly shot a businessman at the gates of the same Prosecutor General's Office. He climbed with a pistol over the fence of the department and, running through the courtyard, disappeared into the gateway. In 1995, Pustovalov liquidated the leaders of the "Kuntsevo" Skvortsov and Kaligin, in 1996 the leader of the "Sokolniki" Kutepov, in 1997 the leader of the "Koptevsky" Naumov. On account of the Soldier, the execution of the senior investigator of the Odintsovo prosecutor's office, Alexander Kerez. Pretending to be a drunken bum, the killer lay in the mud for two days along the road along which the investigator went to work. And once, "sobering up", shot him in the head. It is no coincidence that Pustovalov is considered the most effective killer in Russia - he has at least 35 victims on his account. When he was arrested, he told the investigator: “I will take on as many mokruhs as you can prove!” In May 2004, the court sentenced the Soldier to 22 years in prison, and in August 2005 added another year. It ended up being less than a year for each kill.
The executioner's profession has always been one of the most mysterious. On the one hand, the executioners were outcast people, they were shunned and it was considered shameful to shake their hands. De La Mole in the novel Queen Margot by Alexandre Dumas could not bring himself to shake hands with the Parisian executioner, Maitre Kabosh, who cured his friend Kokkonas, and later paid dearly for it. Kabosh honestly did his job when he had to torture de La Mole and crushed the bones on his legs with a "Spanish boot". But Kokkonas, who shook hands with him, Kabosh spared, although he violated his official duty.
The executioners had to live somewhere outside the city, so as not to embarrass the respectable inhabitants with their appearance. And they even had to look for wives in the circle of their own kind. Nobody wanted to talk to the executioner. There was a belief that if a person touches the executioner or his tools, he will end his life on the scaffold. Therefore, in some medieval cities there was even such a custom that when the services of an executioner were required, a messenger simply left a black glove on his window. Executioners often also had to recruit apprentices and apprentices from their midst, so entire dynasties of shoulder craftsmen often formed.
And the most famous of them was the Sanson dynasty in France, seven generations of which performed their difficult duties for a century and a half.
Its founder was the Rouen executioner Charles Sanson, appointed in 1688 by decree of Louis XIV the chief executioner of Paris. His ancestors were nobles and participated in crusades. He himself, apparently due to financial difficulties, married the daughter of a Rouen executioner. When his father-in-law took him to his execution for the first time, Charles fainted. But habit is a great power. Gradually he got used to the sight of severed heads. According to the customs of that time, the position of executioner in without fail passed on to the son, or, in his absence, to the son-in-law of the executioner. Thus, Charles Sanson inherited the position of Rouen executioner.
It can be said that the Sanson dynasty of executioners was crippled by the “money issue”. In 1840, Clement Henri Sanson became the Parisian executioner. He was entangled in debts, as in silks. And besieged by creditors, he pawned his "tool of labor" - the guillotine - at the usurer. But as soon as he did this, an order came from the judicial authorities of Paris to appear for the execution of the death sentence. Sanson rushed to the usurer with a request to give him a guillotine for a short time. But the usurer was unshakable. As a result, Sanson was retired in 1847.
Another executioner who gained fame was Giovanni Batista Bugatti, nicknamed "Mastro Titta" - "maestro of justice." He was the official executioner of the Papal States from 1796-1865, during which time he sent 516 people to the next world. At first, Bugatti hung and chopped off heads, and from 1816 he began to execute with a "Roman" guillotine, which, unlike the "French" one, had a straight, not beveled, blade. Bugatti was forbidden to leave his native Trastevere quarter, except for "official business." Therefore, the executioner's crossing over the bridge of St. The angel signaled to the Romans that the execution would take place immediately and it was time to gather for a spectacle at the execution site. Charles Dickens, who once witnessed his work, wrote:
“The body was taken away on a cart, the knife was carefully wiped, the platform was dismantled, and all disgusting devices were removed. The executioner is a person who is outlawed and, under pain of death, does not dare to cross the bridge of St. Archangel, except for the performance of his duties, retired to his lair, and the performance was over.
They also wrote about the work of Bugatti English poet Byron and Italian - Giuseppe Belli. This created the executioner's popularity. Although he himself was pious and modest. His family earned money by selling umbrellas to tourists. Bugatti's salary was constant, but small. True, when he retired at the age of 85, he was left with "service housing" and was assigned a monthly pension of 30 skudi. Bugatti's personal belongings and tools are now kept in the Rome Museum of Criminology.
In the 20th century, changes in attitudes in society towards shoulder craftsmen occurred almost everywhere. Now journalists are considered lucky to interview them. Books are written about them, films are made about them.
For example, in 2005, the film The Last Hangman was released, which tells about the life of the British state executioner Albert Pierpoint, who hanged 608 convicts from 1934 to 1956, receiving £ 15 for each execution of the sentence. He also became famous for the fact that he could carry out the execution for a record a short time- 17 seconds.
But the scriptwriters and the director were attracted to him by something else. Namely, the storyline that Pierpoint was forced to execute even his friend, but after that something broke in his soul, and he asked to resign.
France also has its own star of the executioner art - Fernand Meyssonier, who in the period from 1953 to 1957 executed about 200 Algerian rebels by guillotine. He was also famous for not letting his head fall into the basket, having time to pick it up to demonstrate that the work was done properly. Although Mensonier was the successor of the executioner dynasty, he was attracted to this profession by a purely material side - high salary, free travel around the world, the right to have military weapon and even benefits for the content of the pub. He still makes money on his guillotine, exhibiting it in various museums.
AT Saudi Arabia the executioner Mohammed Saad al-Beshi is known, who carries out the most important sentences. His tool is a traditional Arab sword - a scimitar - with a curved blade, reaching a length of more than a meter, with which he was rewarded by the government for his good work.
One of the most famous executioners in modern history The United States was Robert Green Elliot, who was listed as a "staff electrician" in Dannemora prison. Between 1926 and 1939, Eliot sent 387 people to the next world by means of the electric chair. For each executed person, he received a fee of $150. In his autobiographical book Eliot described his professional know-how:
“Over the years of work, I managed to improve the execution on electric chair. Before me, a voltage of 500 volts was used, which after one minute rose to 2000 volts. In this case, the condemned died painfully for 40-50 seconds. I first turned on a strong voltage of 2000 volts, which instantly burned all the internal organs of a person, and only after that gradually lowered the discharge.
And the most famous American executioner was Junior Sergeant John Woodd, who was entrusted with carrying out executions at the Nuremberg Trials after the end of World War II. Although before this at home - in San Antonio, he carried out 347 death sentences against murderers and rapists, his executions of the leaders of the Third Reich glorified him.
Woodd noted that the condemned turned out to be very tenacious. Ribbentrop, Jodl, Keitel suffered in the noose for several minutes. But Streicher had to be strangled with his hands.
Does society need executioners? The question is not at all idle, since individual representatives the human race tends to commit serious criminal offenses. Such individuals are caught, tried and often sentenced to death. This is where the executor of punishment comes to the fore. It is he who, on behalf of the state, takes the life of the convict. Therefore, whatever one may say, but without executioners anywhere.
However, not every citizen of the country is ready to shoulder such a responsible burden. Here you need a certain psyche and worldview. You won't call the first passerby from the street. Therefore, finding a performer is not so easy. And yet, government officials at all times decided this complex issue and justice was administered according to the verdict. The performers were selected taking into account local characteristics and the mentality of people.
Executioners in Europe
In France, such a craft as the deprivation of life of people by the verdict of the court was inherited. The executioner's house has always stood on the outskirts. People were not eager to meet him in everyday life. There was a belief that the one who touches the executor of punishment will end his life on the gallows. Hence the alienation not only to the "professional killer" himself, but also to his family members. As a wife, such people took, as a rule, women from their circle, and the sons continued the work of their fathers.
The most famous dynasty of shoulder craftsmen was the Sanson family. They fulfilled their public duty for 159 years. The founder of the dynasty is Charles Sanson. In 1688 Louis XIV appointed him chief executioner of Paris by special decree. The reason for choosing the king was that Sanson was married to the daughter of a bloody punisher. But he had no sons, so the position after the death of the latter passed to the son-in-law.
In 1726, another representative of this dynasty suddenly died. He left behind an 8-year-old son, Charles Baptiste. In accordance with existing traditions he became an executioner. But the boy, of course, could not perform such difficult duties. Therefore, until he came of age, the execution was carried out by another person, and the child was obliged to be present with them so that the tradition was formally observed.
The most famous of this dynasty was Charles Henri Sanson. He executed Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Georges Jacques Danton, Robespierre, and many others. famous people times French Revolution. It was at this time that the guillotine appeared, which greatly facilitated the work.
The last in the dynasty and the 7th in a row was Clement Henri Sanson. He assumed specific duties in 1840. This man had a passion for gambling so he got into a lot of debt. He was forced to flee Paris from creditors in 1847. It's time to execute another execution, and Clement was nowhere to be found. He did not have a son, and therefore the dynasty ceased to exist.
But the surname known throughout the country later helped the last Sanson. One of the French publishing houses decided to write a book about the famous dynasty. They decided to publish the book on behalf of Clément Henri and bought the right from him for this for a large sum of money. As a result of this, in 1863, a 6-volume collection entitled "The Executioner's Notes" was published.
Execution on the French guillotine
No less famous executor is considered Giovanni Battista Bugatti. He worked as an executioner in the Papal States from 1796 to 1865. This man was born in 1780, and he assumed bloody duties at the age of 16. At first, he chopped off the heads and hanged criminals, and in 1816 the process of deprivation of life was made more civilized. In Italy, the guillotine appeared following the example of France. Throughout his long career, Giovanni took the lives of 516 people.
He himself was a pious and modest man. His salary was small, but constant. At the age of 85, this man went on a well-deserved rest. Bugatti has become very popular these days. His personal belongings and tools of production are kept in the Roman Museum of Criminology.
Already in the 20th century, the English executioner became famous Albert Pierpoint(1905-1992). He was engaged in shoulder cases from 1934 to 1956. During this time, he hanged 608 convicts. Got for them in total 10 thousand pounds sterling. This is in addition to the official salary. That is, for each hanged Albert was paid extra. At the end of his activity, the Englishman so stuffed his hand that he hung the convict in 17 seconds.
Executioners in the USA
As for the United States, the executioners in this country performed the bloody work by piecework. A person worked, say, as an electrician, and for the duration of the execution of punishment he turned into a punishing sword of justice. And they paid big money for it. At the current rate, for each murdered shoulder case, the master received 2 thousand dollars.
For example, such a punisher as Robert Green Elliot. He worked at the Clinton Correctional Institution (New York State). It is the largest maximum security prison for men in the United States. The electric chair has been in use since 1892.
Robert Green sent 387 people to the next world between 1926 and 1939. Taking into account the fees paid, he became a wealthy person. A voltage of 2000 volts was applied to the sentenced. It created a powerful discharge of current that passed through the brain. Death was instantaneous.
No less popular is the American sergeant John Woods. He became famous thanks to Nuremberg Trials. It was he who was entrusted with the execution of the Nazis. But before that, he already had a lot of experience behind him. The sergeant hanged 347 murderers and rapists. True, the poor man himself was not lucky. He died at the age of 39 in 1950 from electrocution in an accident. Woods was buried in Toronto, Kansas.
Executioners in Russia
In Russia, professionals in shoulder cases appeared in late XVII century. In 1681, a royal decree was issued, which commanded in every city where there is a prison, to recruit a special person who could execute death sentences. This included volunteers. It was even allowed to recruit vagrants, offering them constant food and earnings.
However, the matter was aggravated by the shameful status of the performer. People turned away from such a person, and in the church they were not allowed to take communion. They called the executioner in Russia catom, which is synonymous with executor. In a word, there were no hunters for a satisfying, but not a prestigious position. Only the most fallen personalities went to the kats, who had nowhere to go.
In 1742, the Senate increased the salaries of executors by almost 2 times, but this did not solve the personnel problem. To early XIX century in many provinces there were no people at all who could carry out the death sentence. In 1805, by royal decree, it was allowed to recruit convicted criminals for the role of kats. They were kept in special separate prison premises. It was impossible to keep in a common cell, since the prisoners could kill such an executioner.
Favorite punishment with a whip in Russia
In Russia at that time, punishment with a whip was widely used. It seemed to be considered humane, since it did not imply death. And indeed, people did not die under the whip. They gave their souls to God 2-3 days after the execution. The whip tore the liver, kidneys, blood vessels caused profuse internal bleeding. The punished received severe injuries, but could live with them for a couple more days.
For the duration of the punishment, kata, as a rule, wore red shirts. It was their uniform. But in France, in such shirts, those condemned to death were taken to the scaffold. Each nation has its own customs and traditions.
In 1879, military district courts appeared in the empire. They were given the right to pass death sentences without appeal to a higher authority. The number of suicide bombers increased, but there were no executioners. At that time, there was only one executioner in the whole country by the name of Frolov. He, accompanied by guards, traveled to prisons and hanged those sentenced to death. It turned out that the whole life of this man passed on the road.
The situation did not improve in the first decade of the 20th century. In the empire, a certain Filipiev. He himself was from the Cossacks. During a quarrel, he killed a man, and the court sentenced him to death. Then he was offered to exchange his life for an agreement to become a shoulder master. Former Cossack agreed. It was he who hanged the terrorist Ivan Kalyaev in the spring of 1905, who had killed Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich with a bomb. Filipiev took the lives of many other political and criminal criminals. Kata himself was killed in 1911 by prisoners with whom he accidentally ended up in the same carriage.
But then something strange happened in Russia. During the Civil War, many assassins appeared. Both whites and reds exterminated people by the thousands. This trend continued into the 20s and 30s. People seem to have been replaced, or maybe the status of the executor has simply changed. Previously, he was an outcast, but now he has become the sovereign master of human destinies. Most likely, the way it is. Through murder, individual citizens asserted themselves and began to feel their importance. But this is the lot of pathetic and narrow-minded personalities, which real executioners have always been.
The article was written by Leonid Sukhov
